PANAJI/QUEPEM
With as many as 69 candidates who had filed their nominations for the upcoming second phase of the municipal elections withdrawing from the contest on Tuesday, 366 candidates are left in the fray for the 90 wards in five municipalities of Mapusa, Mormugao, Margao, Quepem and Sanguem. Tuesday was the last day of withdrawal.
The elections which are to be held on March 21 will see a contest between candidates supported by the ruling and opposition parties.
Election officials said a total of 445 candidates had filed nominations initially of which seven were rejected.
Interestingly, three candidates from Wards 1, 3 and 7 of Quepem municipality have been elected unopposed as other candidates have withdrawn from the fray and some forms were rejected during scrutiny. These three BJP supported candidates Suchita Shenvi Shirvaikar, Pandhari Naik and Gurudas Haldankar were elected without any resistance in the council of having 13 wards.
This means the Quepem Municipal Council will witness elections in only eight of the 11 wards.
Meanwhile, eight nominations were withdrawn on Tuesday and 43 candidates are now left in the fray for the QMC elections.
A close aide of Deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar, Naik got elected from Ward 7 for the fourth successive term after Chaturanand Shetkar withdrew from the fray.
During his first term, Naik had served as Vice-chairperson and in the last term, was the chairperson of QMC.
For Haldankar, this is his second win from Ward 1, after the Congress-backed candidate Ramesh Naik withdrew his nomination at the last minute.
Incidentally, there had been some uproar outside the Deputy Collector’s office on the day of filing nominations, amid allegations that Ramesh Naik had been obstructed from entering the office to file his nominations.
As soon as Dayesh Naik and Chetan Haldankar were declared unopposed, rumours were spread that rival candidates had been compelled to withdraw from the fray.
Congress leaders have accused BJP leaders of using influence to get their candidates elected unopposed.
Shortly after the election of Dayesh Naik and Chetan Haldankar as unopposed councillors, Deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar congratulated them along with Suchita Shirvoikar and thanked the voters from their respective wards for getting them elected unopposed.
