Former Nuvem MLA Wilfred D’Sa at a polling booth at Nuvem.
MARGAO
Congress leaders led by Everson Vales is banking on the Congress core voter base to give the party another victory in the Zilla panchayat election to retain the Nuvem seat.
Former Nuvem MLA Wilfred D’Sa, however, said the fate of the Congress will be known on Monday when the ballots are taken up for counting, asserting that the candidates supported by him in Nuvem Luis Baretto (AAP) and neighbouring Colva Nelly Rodrigues (IND), win the election.
Both Congress leader Everson and Wilfred were not ready to concede the Nuvem seat to each other. Everson reminded that people of Nuvem have always voted for the Congress in every election, be it the Assembly, Lok Sabha or Zilla Panchayats. Wilfred, on the other hand, admitted that congressmen will cast their vote for the Congress candidate, exuding confidence that majority of the voters will cast their vote for AAP candidate Luis Barretto supported by him.
“The Congress leaders will know the party position when the ballots are opened for counting. All I want to say is that the candidates supported by me in Nuvem and Colva will get elected”, he said.
The former Nuvem MLA further said that the Congress would have won more than 20-25 seats in the ZP polls if the party had to field the right candidates. “Some of the leaders, not the Party MLAs, were not only against alliances with opposition parties, but also put their foot down to nominate winning candidates”, Wilfred added.
