PANAJI
The three Tiswadi MLAs namely St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar, Cumbarjua MLA Rajesh Faldessai and St Cruz MLA Rudolf Fernandes are going to have a tough time getting hold of panchayats in their respective constituencies as a majority of Independents have won.
However, Borkar got his hand on the Azossim-Mandur panchayat as the three Revolutionary Goans (RG) panchas got support from an Independent candidate Prashant Naik who was instantly declared as the sarpanch with Tejaswi Naik as the deputy sarpanch. The other two panchas in the panel are Nandesh Mayekar and Premanand Kurtikar.
However, immediately former MLA Francisco Silveira claimed that Prashant was supported by him and informed that he would see to it that his panel comes to power in the panchayat.
Also, Silveira claimed that not only Azossim-Mandur but his panels would rule in all the seven panchayats of the constituency. “All the candidates are my supporters and I will ensure that my panels get hold of the seven panchayats in St Andre,” he added.
But, MLA Borkar said that he is eyeing even Batim and Siridao.
For Cumbarjua MLA Faldessai, it appears to be a daunting task as most of the candidates he supported lost even though the MLA claimed that his candidates have won.
When contacted by The Goan, Faldessai said that he would form panels in all the seven panchayats in Cumbarjua. “Most of the candidates who won are my supporters,” he claimed.
For St Cruz MLA Rudolf Fernandes too it is going to be tough as his opponents have been able to finalise their panels in Santa Cruz and Merces panchayats. In Chimbel, too, attempts are being made to cobble up a panel by the MLA's opponents.
