PANAJI
Less than three months after its robust performance in rural Goa in the Zilla Panchayat polls, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continued to take advantage of an Opposition in disarray and stamped its political dominance in urban and semi-urban civic body polls.
BJP supported formations splendidly won majorities in five of the six municipal councils and the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP). Only in Cuncolim, the panel floated by Yuri Alemao, the son of former minister Joaquim Alemao emerged victorious.
The cynosure of all eyes however was the State’s sole municipal Corporation in the capital where the combined political juggernaut of Panaji MLA Atanasio Monserrate and the BJP rolled to clinch a splendid win bagging 25 of the 30 seats. The rival joint opposition panel “Ami Ponnjekar” panel managed just four seats and one ward was won by an Independent.
The BJP wasted no time in announcing that the party will form councils in the CCP and 5 of the 6 Municipalities.
According to BJP State president Sadanand Shet Tanawade the break up of seats won by BJP backed candidates is: CCP “ 25 of 30 seats; Valpoi “ all 10 seats; Pernem “ 8; Bicholim - 10 of 14 seats; Curchorem “ 11 of 15 seats; Canacona “ all 12 seats and Cuncolim - 5 of 14 seats.
Overall the BJP and supported candidates won 85 seats which is nearly 81% of the total 105 municipal seats for which polls were held and results declared on Monday, Tanawade added.
VALPOI
The BJP claimed a sweep as all 10 candidates backed by the party won elections at the Valpoi Municipal Council.
Elections were conducted in nine of the 10 wards after Nirmala Sakhar had been elected unopposed from Ward 8 and counting of votes took place at the Forest Training School Hall in Valpoi under the guidance of Returning Officer Rajesh Azgaonkar, who is also deputy collector of Sattari. He was assisted by Sattari Mamlatdar Dashrath Gawas.
In Ward 8, Sarfaraz Sayyad was elected by a huge margin of 479 votes, while in Ward 1 Anil Katkar was also elected by a large margin of 472 votes.
PERNEM
The BJP-backed candidates won six seats while four independent candidates won in the remaining four wards in the 10-member Pernem Municipal Council (PMC) elections.
The BJP received a further boost when independent candidates, Manoj Harmalkar and Shivram Tukoji, who defeated BJP candidates, have announced their support to Deputy Chief Minister Babu Ajgaonkar, while the remaining 2 councillors, Ashwini Palienkar and Vishakha Gadekar, are also rumoured to be planning to support the deputy CM.
CURCHOREM
As many as seven sitting councillors were re-elected, while eight new faces were elected in the 15-member Curchorem-Cacora Municipal Council (CCMC) on Monday.
A jubilant Power Minister Nilesh Cabral said except for two sitting councillors who lost the elections, seven sitting councillors who had contested the elections were re-elected and affirmed that the people in Curchorem-Cacora are with the BJP.
Though seven candidates fielded by Cabral won the elections and eight other newly candidates are independents, Cabral has claimed the support of 11 councillors in the 15-member CCMC.
BICHOLIM
The BJP took control of the Bicholim Municipal Council (BMC) by winning nine of the 14 seats and extended its tally when one independent councillor pledged his support to the party.
The former councillors who got defeated included Gurudatt Pal, Chaitanya Teli and Nissar Shaikh, while the winning candidates include six women, including two advocates.
Kundan Falari won by the highest margin of 392 votes, while candidates in Wards 3 and 6 won by a slim margin. Ward 5 Nilesh Tople, who has won as an independent candidate, extended its support to BJP.
CANACONA
The electorate delivered major surprises at the Canacona Municipal Council (CMC) elections on Monday, voting into power as many as eight new faces and rejecting three ex-chairpersons in the 12-member council.
The polls delivered mixed successes for six former chairpersons, as three of them, included two veterans, were ousted, while three others, including the outgoing chairperson, were voted back to power.
Such was the tension surrounding the counting of votes, than one of the candidates collapsed in the counting hall during the second leg of counting, prompting the authorities to call for medical attention.
CUNCOLIM
The Congress under the banner of Joaquim and Yuri Alemao made a clean sweep in the election for the 14-member Cuncolim Municipal Council, as the ruling BJP suffered a major jolt in its determined bid to wrest control of the civic body.
While the Congress camp emerged victorious with a clear mandate, winning in nine of the 14-wards of the B-Class Council, the BJP had to be content with just four seats, with a lone seat going to an
Independent Rahul Desai.
BJP’s failure to get the mandate for its candidates assumes significance and comes against the backdrop of the last-ditch efforts put in by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant along with former MP Narendra Sawaikar.
