THE GOAN NETWORK
BICHOLIM
In Bicholim, Rajesh Patnekar secured 10,654 votes, scoring a slim victory over sitting MLA Naresh Sawal of MGP (9,988). Manohar Shirodkar of Congress (1,761), Sainath Patekar of AAP (358) and Dattaram Raut of Goa Praja Party (324) did not make any impact in the elections. The NOTA votes were 221.
Speaking to reporters, Patnekar said he has decided to concentrate on all round development of Bicholim constituency. It was a sweet return to power for Patnekar, after he had won the elections in 2002 and 2007, but lost in the 2012 polls as a Congress candidate.
Taking advantage of voters who were unhappy with Sawal, Patnekar reconciled with the people who had rejected him in 2012, while the determined campaigning of former Latambarcem ZP and BJP leader Shilpa Naik helped him a great deal.
Shilpa had initially ignored Patnekar after she was denied the BJP ticket from Bicholim, but later joined Patnekar’s campaign and consolidated his presence in rural areas like Latambarcem and Sal, where Shilpa has a stronghold.
In Mayem, BJP’s gamble to field Pravin Zantye instead of sitting MLA Anant Shet paid off as he secured a huge win in the polls. Zantye polled a massive 12,430 votes, comfortably defeating Santosh Sawant of Congress (7456) and Atmaram Gaonker of Goa Suraksha Manch (2317).
In Sakhali, Dr Pramod Sawant retained his control in the constituency, edging past Dharmesh Saglani of the Congress polling a sizeable 10,058 votes, while Saglani had to settle for 7927 votes. Former minister Suresh Amonkar of Goa Suraksha Manch was placed third with 3831.
