SANGUEM
There was a high voter turnout in Quepem as 78.01% of them exercised their franchise for the 13 wards the Quepem Municipal Council (QMC) on Friday.
The highest voter turnout was in Ward 11 where 945 of the 1,187 voters cast their ballots.
The voters who exercised their franchise were Ward 1 (611), Ward 2 (636), Ward 3 (666), Ward 4 (605), Ward 5 (756), Ward 6 (817), Ward 7 (858), Ward 8 (592), Ward 9 (626), Ward 10 (604), Ward 11 (945), Ward 12 (926) and Ward 13 (639).
Deputy Chief Minister and Quepem MLA Chandrakant Kavlekar was optimistic that all 13 candidates backed by him would win the elections.
Though the elections went off peacefully, there were minor verbal clashes between supporters of various candidates at many places.
Accusations were also made by certain party leaders against Kavlekar and his officials for alleged misuse of official powers and for their presence at polling booths.
Incidentally, when elections were first announced before the order of the Supreme Court, three candidates -- former QMC chairperson Dayesh Naik, Suchita Shirvoikar and former councillor Chetan Haldankar -- all affiliated to Kavlekar were declared elected unopposed.
However after the Supreme Court order, the trio have had to face stiff opposition from rival Congress and APP candidates.
While Dayesh Naik is facing Jivan Colaco (APP) and Chetan Bhise (Congress), Chetan Haldankar is facing tough contest from four other candidates and Suchita Haldankar is pitted against Najmunissa, Lalita Bandekar and Sulaksha Prabhudessai.
Despite the opposition candidates, Dayesh Naik was confident that their chances of winning the elections are bright and said they would get elected with huge margin.
