THE GOAN NETWORK
MAPUSA
The Zilla Panchayat results threw up five new faces in Bardez even as the BJP managed to wrest its stranglehold in the taluka by winning seven of the nine constituencies that were up for grabs.
Two constituencies were bagged by the independents backed by Porvorim MLA Rohan Khuante and former BJP MLA and Working President of Goa Forward Party Kiran Kandolkar.
BJP’s Rupesh Naik won with the highest margin of 2,958 votes over his nearest Congress rival, Hemant Malvankar, in Reis Magos, while Dataprasad Dabholkar of BJP won with the least margin of 428 votes against Congress candidate, Lourence Silveira, in Calangute.
The other BJP candidates who emerged victorious were Kartik Kudnekar (Socorro), Diksha Kanolkar (Sirsaim), Manisha Naik (Aldona), Sanisha Toraskar (Siolim) and Niharika Mandrekar (Anjuna).
The two independents also put up a good show with Kavita Kandolkar outperforming BJP’s Govind Kubal by a margin of 2,075 votes in Colvale, while Kavita Naik got the better of Radhika Sawant of the BJP by a margin of 1,678 votes in Penha da Franca.
The BJP candidates, Niharika Mandrekar (Anjuna), Manisha Naik (Aldona) and Kartik Kudnekar (Socorro) and independent candidates Kavita Kandolkar (Colvale) and Kavita Naik (Penha de Franca) have been elected for the first time.
Of the six candidates who had re-contested this time, four got re-elected and two lost.
The four sitting BJP candidates, Sanisha Toroskar, Diksha Kanolkar, Rupesh Naik and Dattaprasad Dabholkar, were re-elected, while two other sitting candidates Govind Kubal (BJP) of Colvale and Vaishali Satardekar (Ind) of Socorro lost the elections.
Four panchayat members had contested the ZP election, of which only Manisha Naik, a panch member of Bastora, won while the other three losing panch members were Govind Govekar (Nachinola panchayat), Ruby Halarnkar (Pomburpa panchayat) and Anand Temkar (Sirsaim panchayat).
When counting was taken up early Monday morning, the trend appeared to go against the BJP when first result of Colvale came in and BJP’s Govind Kubal was drubbed by independent candidate, Kavita Kandolkar.
The tide, however, changed and the BJP went to win the remaining seven seats with the Penha da Franca ZP seat going to the independent.
“The results were on the expected lines. We have a lot of lessons to learn and these results will help us to do course correction for the bigger fight in another one and half year’s time,” said Mahanand Asnodkar, BJP North Goa District President.
HIGHLIGHTS
SENIOR CONG LEADERS MISSING
• While the North Goa BJP District President Mahanand Asnodkar was present outside the counting hall in Peddem from 8 am on Monday, Congress leaders were conspicuous in their absence.
• Asnodkar was present till late in the evening moving around, taking constant inputs about the results and meeting the winning candidates outside the counting hall.
• However, not a single senior leader of the Congress was present on the counting day. The absence of Congressmen baffled many supporters.
BJP MINISTER, MLAS VISIT COUNTING HALL
• As soon as the results in favour of BJP started pouring in, BJP MLAs began to arrive at the counting hall in Peddem.
• First to arrive on the scene was Aldona MLA Glenn Ticlo, followed by Tivim MLA Nilkant Halarnkar.
• Later, Ports Minister and Calangute MLA Michael Lobo and his wife and Parra Sarpanch Delilah Lobo also came to the counting hall and mingled with their workers and supporters.
POOR FACILITIES AT COUNTING HALL
• While the counting exercise inside the counting hall went on smoothly, the facilities available outside the hall left much to be desired.
• Although two canteens exist within the sprawling Peddem stadium, none of them was open on the counting day.
• Even a bottle of water was out of bounds for the officials, men and women in uniform and the candidates and their supporters within the stadium.
• People desiring to snack or even get a bottle of water had to travel almost 1 km away from the counting hall.
• The police personnel who were manning the security outside the hall were neither provided with food nor water throughout the day.
• There were no proper signages to indicate the presence of loos in the sprawling stadium, making it difficult for those who needed to use them.
Congress fails to make impact
THE GOAN NETWORK
MAPUSA
Apart for Congress candidate Lourenco Silveira, who gave the BJP a run for its money in Calangute, the Congress failed to make an impact at the Zilla Panchayat polls in Bardez.
In a see-saw battle, where fortunes fluctuated at every ballot box taken up for counting, the BJP candidate Dattaprasad Dabholkar had to wait till the last ballot box was taken up for counting.
Congress candidate, Lourenco Silveira, was leading in the first round with a slender margin of 169 votes. But that lead was erased when counting was taken up from the Candolim area.
Dabholkar got relief in Arpora-Nagao area where he got a sizeable lead to overtake the Congress candidate.
“We did not expect it to be so close. Yes, we had to sweat it out at one point of time in the counting hall,” Dabholkar told The Goan, heaving a sigh of relief.
Apart from the Lourenco Silveira in Calangute, Congress candidates “ Ruby Halarnkar (Aldona) and Sangeeta Lingukar (Anjuna) failed to make an impact.
