MARGAO
The Congress has finally picked women candidates for the Benaulim and Colva Zilla Panchayat seats, but in the bargain saw two former Zilla chairpersons Maria Rebello and Nelly Rodrigues contesting as Independents respectively for the two seats.
While Luiza Rodrigues filed her nomination paper for the Benaulim seat, Venicia Carvalho submitted her papers for the Colva seat. The duo was accompanied by Congress workers and supporters from both the ZP constituencies.
Both Luiza and Venicia have been fielded by the Congress to checkmate the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party, which has opened its account in Benaulim in the 2020 ZP polls and retained the seat in the 2024 ZP by-poll.
The Congress, however, had to contend with two senior ticket aspirants Maria Rebello and Nelly Rodrigues filing their papers as Independents for the Benaulim and Colva ZP seat respectively.
A three-time ZP member, Maria told the media after filing her papers that she fails to understand why her candidature was not considered by the Congress when she was tipped to get the party nomination. “My supporters told me to go ahead and contest the election as an Independent,” she added.
Meanwhile, Congress candidates Danny Fernandes, Malifa Cardozo, Anthony Braganza and Astra Da Silva have filed their nomination papers for the Davorlim, Navelim, Nuvem and Curtorim Zilla Panchayat seats on Tuesday.
