MARGAO
With the Supreme Court order staying the High Court order on ward reservations, the key political players in Margao Municipal politics were either back in their drawing boards to give final touches to the list of candidates or were on the field to drum up support for their respective candidates.
While the BJP-backed Vibrant Margao group headed by party general secretary Damu Naik made his presence at the district office in the morning soon after the Supreme Court decision went viral, Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai went into a huddle with his set of candidates, who will be contesting in the 11 Margao Municipal wards falling in the Fatorda area.
Leader of the Opposition, Digambar Kamat, who did not unveil the names of candidates fielded on the Model Margao panel, also had a meeting with the candidates at his office on Thursday.
While the BJP-backed Vibrant Margao had unveiled the list of all the candidates for the 25-member Margao civic body earlier this week, both the Goa Forward chief and the Opposition Leader were waiting for the court ruling to declare the candidates, especially in some of the reserved wards.
Says Vibrant Margao convenor, Damu Naik: “The BJP was all geared up for the Municipal polls from day one. One of the candidates from the panel, Sharmad Raiturkar has even filed his nomination papers. Even after the High Court had stayed the ward reservations, we had maintained that the party will go to the people’s court for a mandate. Since the Supreme Court has stayed the High Court order, our remaining candidates will file their nomination papers as per the latest election schedule announced by the State Election Commission.”
Damu, who was at the party headquarters in Panaji on Thursday evening was expected to go into a huddle with the panel candidates later tonight to ensure that all goes well vis-Ã -vis filing of nominations.
On the other hand, Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai had an interaction with the prospective candidates at the Goemkar Ghor on Thursday following the Supreme Court order. Not taking anything for chance, he is believed to have requested all the prospective candidates to file their nomination papers for the moment, as he has promised to shortlist the panel after the Supreme Court’s verdict on Tuesday.
While Sardesai is believed to have shortlisted candidates for most of the wards, candidates in the reserved wards, besides one or two general wards will be finalised before the withdrawal.
Leader of the Opposition Digambar Kamat was also hesitant to unveil names of the candidates, who will be contesting on the Model Margao panel, as he was expected to announce the candidates after the Court ruling. “We had shortlisted a list of candidates, who will be contesting the polls. However, in some wards we did not unveil the names as we hoped that the reservation anomalies will be rectified,” Kamat told The Goan on Thursday evening.
The Leader of the Opposition, however, was on the field on Thursday to drum up support for his candidates, having got down on the battlefield days ago.
