Goa Cong MP says he got ECI notice asking him to prove identity to retain name in electoral rolls
Panaji (PTI): Congress' Lok Sabha MP from South Goa Viriato Fernandes has alleged that he received a notice from the Election Commission of India (ECI), in which he was asked to appear before it with documents to prove his identity in order to retain his name in the electoral rolls.
Fernandes, a former Navy officer, said that subjecting an MP to this kind of scrutiny confirms concerns raised by the Opposition that the ECI's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was aimed at deleting the names of legitimate voters to prevent them from participating in the voting process.
The Chief Electoral Office (CEO) in Goa, however, later issued a clarification, saying the MP's enumeration form was placed under the "unmapped" category and a hearing notice was automatically generated and issued to him as mandatory details were not filled in.
In a social media post, Fernandes said, "Received notice from the ECI to appear with documents for proving my identity in order to retain his name in electoral roll. This notice is coming on the backdrop of ECI having subjected every contestant during last Lok Sabha polls in 2024, including me, with the highest level of scrutiny before clearing name for contesting the elections."
"Incidentally, I have been voting since 1989 after becoming eligible, thanks to late PM Shri Rajiv Gandhi Ji's initiative of giving voting rights for 18 year olds," he said.
He said he has travelled to Goa multiple times "from far off places of military posting" during his 26 years of service in the Indian Navy just to cast his vote, be it for Lok Sabha, assembly or zilla panchayat election.
"If a Member of Parliament can be subjected to this scrutiny, wonder the state of a common man, confirming concerns raised (by) Opposition parties and NGOs/Citizens about SIR being carried out by ECI to delete names of legitimate voters and prevent (them) from participating in the democratic process of voting," he added.
In the clarification issued later, the Goa CEO said, "During the course of the SIR, the Booth Level Officer (BLO) of Part No. 19 collected the enumeration form pertaining to the Hon'ble Member of Parliament, Captain Viriato Hipolito Mendonca Fernandes."
It was observed that the enumeration form did not contain mandatory details of the last SIR, including the assembly constituency number, part number and serial number in the electoral roll. As these essential particulars were not filled in, the BLO application could not automatically link the form with the existing electoral roll record, it said.
Accordingly, in the present case, the enumeration form was placed under the "unmapped" category by the system, and a hearing notice was generated and issued automatically as per the prescribed procedure, the CEO said, adding that the matter was under inquiry.
Received notice from ECI to appear with documents for proving my identity in order to retain my name in electoral roll. This notice is coming on the backdrop of ECI having subjected every contestant during last Lok Sabha polls in 2024 including me with the highest level of… pic.twitter.com/BMWrzw26yC
— Capt. Viriato Fernandes (@ViriatoFern) January 7, 2026
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MP: Woman, lover conspire to get husband killed; police looking for contract killer
Dhar (MP) (PTI): A 25-year-old woman and her lover have been arrested in the district for allegedly conspiring to kill her husband by hiring a contract killer, police said on Thursday.
The case was solved within 36 hours of the murder though the woman initially tried to mislead the police by claiming that robbers killed her husband, an official said.
Dev Krishna Purohit (28) was stabbed to death on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday at his house in Gondikheda Charan village, about 60 km from here.
Superintendent of Police Mayank Awasthi told reporters that accused Priyanka Purohit (25) was married to Dev Krishna when she was around 15 years old. Priyanka moved to her matrimonial home after attaining adulthood but was unwilling to live with her husband, leading to frequent disputes between them.
During investigation, it emerged that she was in a relationship with Kamlesh (32), the SP said.
The duo allegedly hatched a plan to kill Dev Krishna and hired a man identified as Surendra for Rs 1 lakh do the job, he said
After Dev Krishna was killed, Priyanka told police that unidentified persons broke into the house, attacked her husband with a sharp weapon while holding her captive in another room, and fled with valuables.
But the inconsistencies in her statements raised suspicion, and eventually she confessed to hatching the murder conspiracy, the SP said.
While she and Kamlesh were arrested, police are looking for the contract killer, the official added.
