PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant got a huge morale booster with candidates affiliated to him winning all 10 wards of the Sanquelim Municipal Council which went into a contest and earned him a solid 11-1 control of the civic body after nearly a decade of his side sitting in the Opposition there.
In Ponda too, the second civic body where polls were held and results declared on Sunday, the saffron party scored big with Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik earning an emphatic control winning nine of the thirteen contested seats. Both of Naik's sons “ Ritesh and Roy “ also won their respective wards fairly comfortably.
Two seats apiece, in both Sanquelim and Ponda, had been won uncontested. Ponda unopposed winners both belonged to Naik-BJP panel and in Sanquelim the two seats were spilt between Sawant's panel and the one floated by his opposition. Praveen Blaggan of the Congress-affiliated Opposition, who won unopposed will now be the lone occupant in the Opposition side.
Meanwhile, the challenge to the Sawant-Ravi duo in this round of civic elections, by Dharmesh Saglani (Congress) and Ketan Bhatikar (MGP) respectively, turned out to be rudderless eventually. Both Saglani and Bhatikar had during the 2022 assembly elections put in a spirited political challenge falling short of the chief minister and agriculture minister respectively by wafer-thin margins.
On Sunday, Saglani who is a two-time former chairperson and a multiple term councillor, himself lost from Ward No. 3 and the seat won unopposed by Blaggan is the lone victory scored by his 'Together for Sanquelim' panel.
As for Bhatikar who had lost to Naik by just 77 votes in the assembly election last year, there was some solace with the "Rising Ponda" panel floated by him winning four seats. According to him, his overall voter base has remained intact, having won four seats and losing three by slender one and three vote margins.
Sawant, his wife Sulakshana who personally campaigned in the Sanquelim husting and BJP State president Sadanand Shet Tanavade have all congratulated the winning candidates while thanking the electorate.
The battle at Ponda, meanwhile wasn't as one-sided in favour of the ruling saffron party as the Naik-BJP led panel won 10 of the 15 seats, and the Bhatikar-MGP backed 'Rising Ponda' panel captured four seats. One went to an independent candidate.
Meanwhile in Ponda's Ward 15, two candidates “ Sampada Naik and Geetali Talaulikar “ both polled 402 votes and the deadlock remained unchanged even after a recount. Talaulikar was eventually declared the winner after a draw of lots. She will be serving a third term.
The BJP’s Ponda Nagarik Samiti and Rising Ponda were in a virtual head-on battle considered as prestigious for Naik and the BJP.
Among the narrow cliff-hangers, the BJP’s Deepa Kolvekar won in Ward 10 by a solitary vote and Jyoti Naik in Ward No. 3 by three votes.
In Ward 12, Shivanand Sawant proved his dominance winning it for the third time. In the current term, Shivanand's wife Jaya was the councillor as it was reserved for women five years ago.
Reservation for women also forced three former chairpersons to field their daughters this time. Pradip Naik’s daughter Adv Pratiksha Naik won her seat, and at 24, will be the youngest councillor.
The daughters of two other ex-chairpersons “ Kishor Naik and Shailendra Shinkre “ were however defeated.
Another former chairperson Shantaram Kolvekar could not contest because of reservation. His wife Deepa Kolvekar contested instead and won by a solitary vote.
Meanwhile, Naik met all the 10 winning BJP-backed candidates and congratulated them. Later, while interacting with the media, he said that the public wants development, and that’s why they have elected the BJP.
"The voters have shown confidence in the party and were not misguided by the opponents," he said.
