PANAJI/SALIGAO: Revenue minister, Rohan Khaunte on Saturday filed a complaint before the chief electoral officer (CEO), Kunal stating that around 820 names of migrants working on casinos have been added to the electoral roll for Porvorim constituency and all their applications were routed through one IP address.Demanding an immediate action, Khaunte informed the reporters that he had earlier filed a complaint on March 28, 2019, following which most approached the electoral officer’s office for deletion of their names.“People hailing from Mizoram Manipur and even from Nepal working on casinos, especially on Casino Pride, were trying to get a voter tag. Most of them reside in rented premises at Porvorim and Saligao ,” he said.“I really don’t know the rationale behind this massive exercise probably at the behest of director of Casino Pride group, Srinivas Nayak. Either he must have taken the election process for granted or he is trying to form a vote bank so that he could try his luck in Goa’s electoral waters,” he alleged.“Perhaps he wants to hold election for Manipur and Mizoram in Goa. If these people get enrolled as voters here, then Goem, Goenkar and Goenkarponn will be rendered meaningless,” he said.Sensing a conspiracy behind the entire episode, Khaunte said, “One can very well judge who is the person behind this exercise.”Reacting to revenue minister’s allegations, Nayak said that he is not affiliated to any political party and he doesn’t nurture any political ambition. “We had run an awareness campaign launched by the Election Commission like other corporates encouraging young voters under the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme.”Attired in their uniform, many casino workers were seen at the Mapusa joint mamlatdar’s office on Saturday seeking deletion of their names along with an affidavit signed by their manager.Speaking to reporters, joint mamlatdar Jenifer Fernandes said the casino workers had approached the office for withdrawal of their names from the electoral roll.“The last date for accepting the forms was March 25. We have accepted their forms and disposal of cases will be done on April 2,” she said.On March 8, the state cabinet, including Khaunte, took a decision by circulation to give a six months’ extension to offshore casinos in the Mandovi. However, a week after that decision, the revenue minister decided to hit out against his own government over the entry of refurbished casino vessel MV Lucky 7. Khaunte tried to evade his role in the decision of extension by saying he could not take up the matter with the then chief minister Manohar Parrikar as he was unavailable.

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