Goa Cannot Be an Exception to “Vote Chori”: Savio Coutinho Backs Rahul Gandhi’s Allegations

Goa Cannot Be an Exception to “Vote Chori”: Savio Coutinho Backs Rahul Gandhi’s Allegations

MARGAO, 9 August 2025 – South Goa Congress leader and Margao Congress Block Convener, Savio Coutinho, has strongly supported Congress National Leader Shri Rahul Gandhi’s recent allegations of “Vote Chori” (vote theft), asserting that similar irregularities are taking place in Goa’s electoral rolls.

Speaking at the district-level election-related meetings, Coutinho revealed that he has twice requested the South District Election Officer, Collector (South), to provide quarterly electoral roll revision data. This, he said, would allow political parties to track names added or deleted from the lists.

Coutinho pointed out that earlier, supplementary lists were issued, clearly showing the names of voters added or removed. However, the current draft rolls lack separate supplementary lists, making it nearly impossible to manually compare old rolls containing approximately 25,000–30,000 voters per constituency with the new ones to detect changes.

Taking Margao as an example, Coutinho alleged that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are functioning like BJP Booth Level Agents (BLAs). He accused a local BJP leader of instructing BLOs to survey their areas and submit lists of voters who have either shifted or do not exist. These lists, he claimed, are then selectively manipulated—retaining or deleting names as per political convenience—while allegedly planning to bring in voters from neighbouring states on polling day.

Coutinho further stated that he had asked the South District Election Officer to provide the names and contact numbers of BLOs, so that political parties could share them with their booth-level workers for better transparency.

Warning BLOs against acting under political influence, Coutinho urged that the matter be escalated to the state-level Congress leadership to prevent a repeat of “Vote Chori” in Goa.

newsbabaonline.com