AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when fresh doubts cropped up about the electronic voting machines used in India during elections. For a Saturday following the week when it was the Silver Jubilee of the Sanatan Sanstha. For a Saturday following the week when the Dhargal panchayat extended permission to the organizer of Sunburn to have his EDM concert. For a Saturday following the week when it was reported how the Aadhaar card will be updated for Indians.
AND a few stray thoughts about the fresh doubts about the electronic voting machines used in India in recent elections. After the results of the elections in Maharashtra which saw the BJP alliance scoring a major victory, there have been complaints from Congress over the rigging of the EVMs. A new PIL has been filed before the Supreme Court questioning if an EVM can register 1,000 to 1500 votes in a single day. The petitioner has argued that given that every voter takes at least one minute to cast his vote in the EVM machine. The maximum number of votes that can be registered is 660 over a period of 11 hours of polling.
The Supreme Court has admitted the petition and has served notice to the Election Commission to prove that more than 660 votes can be registered on the EVM during the hours of polling. It has been observed that in Maharashtra on average more than a 1,000 votes registered at several polling stations. There are also some concerns about the possibility of how EVMs can be manipulated.
AFTER the results of the Haryana elections which the Congress lost, Rahul Gandhi claimed that there was a large-scale rigging. The Election Commission has however strongly denied that there has been any tampering with the EVM machines. Indeed, the Election Commission has even filed complaints against those claiming manipulation of the EVMs. Particularly, Facebook posts from Indians settled abroad.
We fail to understand why the Election Commission has not filed complaints against Rahul Gandhi and senior members of the Congress party who have been the loudest in their complaints of EVMs being rigged. Experts point out that with the advances in digital technology, any electronic device including EVMs can be manipulated (reportedly this is done very ingeniously even in the US electoral process).
There was even a controversy over the claim by a candidate who lost in the Haryana election that the officer in charge of a polling booth had received a call on his mobile to manipulate the EVMs. It was presumed that he was sent the code of the OTP needed to manipulate the numbers of votes polled. This was again denied by the Election Commission. The fact remains that the EVMs are manufactured by a government-owned company, Bharat Electronics, which can be pressured by the ruling party.
Interestingly, the EC has come in for praise by American tech giant Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla Motors and X. Elon Musk has noted that the election machinery in India has been able to count more than a million votes, which is not possible even in the United States. India is perhaps the only country that relies entirely on electronic voting machines. Even the United States where presidential elections were completed recently does not use EVM machines. Many states in the US still follow the traditional system of ballot papers. The charges of manipulation of EVMs against the Election Commission have increased after Narendra Modi won a second term as prime minister.

SANATAN SANSTHA’S SILVER JUBILEE
AND a few stray thoughts on the silver jubilee of the Sanatan Sanstha. Recently, the Sanatan Sanstha, the controversial Ponda-based organization, celebrated its silver jubilee in a hall at Succor panchayat hall in Porvorim. Among those who have attended the silver jubilee celebrations was Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant and Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte. The two historic supporters of Sanatan Sanstha, the brothers Sudhin and Deepak Dhavalikar, were not present.
The chief guest was Swami Govind Dev Giriji Maharaj, treasurer of the Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in Ayodhya. Union Minister of State for Power Shripad Naik and Goa MLAs Chandrakant Shetye, Premanand Shet and Ulhas Tuenkar also attended the silver jubilee function.
The Sanatan Sanstha was formed by Dr Jayant Athawale who was considered as a hypnotic personality. His successor Binda Singbal presided over the silver jubilee function. Sanatan Sanstha is committed to Sanatan Dharma which is a very fundamental form of Hinduism. The Sanstha has opposed the glorification of the demon Narkasur on the eve of Diwali, something which Goans take very seriously. Sanatan Sanstha is also opposed to events like Valentine’s Day.
Remember, the organization has been accused of being involved in the assassination of Gauri Lankesh, the Bengaluru rationalist journalist and activist. It has also implicated in a bomb blast case in Margao during a Narkasur burning competition during the tenure of Digambar Kamat as the chief minister of Goa. This is the first time Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant and senior BJP leaders have openly participated in a function organized by the Sanatan Sanstha.

NOW ‘SUNBURN’ IN DHARGAL
AND a few stray thoughts on the Dhargal panchayat extending permission to the organizer of Sunburn to have his annual EDM concert in Goa. Despite strong opposition from locals including Pernem MLA Pravin Prabhakar Arlekar, the panchayat granted permission to Sunburn to hold the Electronic Dance Music festival in a private property owned by the gambling giant Deltin Corporation.
Deltin had acquired a lot of property in Dhargal for setting up an entertainment complex. The choice of Dhargal is because it is very close to the Mopa airport and suitable for Sunburn which attracts a lot of visitors from various parts of the country and also celebrities from abroad. Sunburn, which claims to be the biggest EDM festival in Asia, has been looking for a location for more than three months now. The Sunburn organizers were forced to drop the proposal for shifting Sunburn to south Goa. Almost every panchayat in Goa has opposed the holding of Sunburn in their area.
Even the Dhargal panchayat granted a license for Sunburn by a very narrow margin of 5 votes to 4. Among the Panchayat members who opposed it is Bhushan Naik. Bhushan claims that the locals are against Sunburn being held in the temple town of Dhargal. Bhushan has alleged that Sunburn has bought over the panchayat members and is planning to move the high court against the permission granted. A large number of police personnel were deployed during the meeting of the panchayat which gave permission to Sunburn.
Sunburn organizers claim that all the tickets have already been sold out. Though Sunburn has been cleared by the majority of the members of the Dhargal panchayat it has yet to get clearance from the Tourism departments. The ultimate authority will be Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant who is also the home minister for Goa.
Every year there has been opposition to Sunburn but the very well-connected organizers have always had their way. Last year Sunburn was held in Anjuna with the support and patronage of Delilah and Michael Lobo who represent Saligao and Calangute constituencies, respectively.

UPDATING AADHAAR
AND a few stray thoughts on updating your Aadhaar card. In most cases, the photographs on the Aadhaar card are more than a decade old. Similarly, the address may also not be correct as many shift residence if staying in rented accommodation. In the case of young women who get married and want to adopt husband’s surname changes have to be made in the Aadhaar card. The unique identification authority of India has now extended the deadline for free updates of Aadhaar details until December 14, 2024.
Citizens can update key information like name. address or even date of birth without any charges through an online process. After the deadline expires those who want to update will have to pay a processing fee to update their Aadhaar card, you have to login to myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in and then proceed to the “update your aadhaar” option under My Aadhaar menu. Login in with your Aadhaar number and confirm it through the OTP (one-time password) sent to your registered number. You can then upload the new document to update your Aadhaar card. It would also be advisable to update your voter ID cards, your driving license, and even your password which in many case is only valid for ten years.
It is very important for parents to preserve the birth certificate of their children as you cannot make an Aadhaar card or a passport without the birth certificate. You cannot even get admission to a kindergarten or primary school without a birth certificate. Fortunately, all organizations now accept the digital version of your documents. To ensure the safety of your documents it is always advisable to create a Digi locker on your mobile or computer to store all your documents digitally.

CASH-FOR-JOB SCAMS
AND last stray thoughts on cash-for-job scams. Goa is not the only state where government jobs are sold to the highest bidder. In Tamil Nadu, a senior MLA of the DMK party, V Senthil Balaji, has been accused of a major cash-for-job scam. The MLA Balaji was arrested and a charge sheet filed. He moved the Supreme Court for bail. In an earlier judgment, the SC has granted bail on September 26, 2024. Soon after Balaji was made a cabinet minister. The SC has expressed anger over the fact that immediately after bail was granted Balaji was made a cabinet minister. The apex court pointed out that this would affect the case as witnesses may be intimidated over appearing in court against the cabinet minister.
In contrast to the convenience of a politician quitting his official position on being arrested and charge sheeted, what is now happening is that those arrested are being granted bail only to be appointed to the cabinet soon after. The SC observed “we grant you bail and then you have to become a senior minister soon after.”