MARGAO
It was a mixed bag of results for politicians at the village grassroots promoting family raj politics.
As many as five couples in three village panchayats of Salcete have made it to the panchayats of Benaulim, Loutolim and Betalbatim, while two other couples failed to get the people’s mandate.
The two couples from Benaulim – David and Vencilla Fernandes and Xavier and Diella Pereira, made it to the panchayat in style, with the couples winning the elections for the second time in a row. Another feather in the cap for Vencilla and Diella is that while many outgoing sarpanchas had bitten the dust in the hustings, the two have retained their seats.
If Xavier Pereira had won the election unopposed, wife brushed off a challenge from noted tiatrist Menino de Bandar and Savio Coelho to win the election.
Similar was the story for the husband-wife duo of David and Vencilla. Both have made it to the panchayat body in style, winning the election with a comfortable margin.
In Loutolim, Tony-Cecilia Vaz have together made it to the panchayat once again. Besides, another couple Minguel and Joana Fernandes have made it to the Loutolim panchayat this time, taking the number of couples in the panchayat to two.
In Betalbatim, the husband-wife duo of Anthony and Maria has made it to the panchayat winning in their respective wards. In Navelim, the gamble played by sitting panch member Paulo Pereria to field his wife came a cropper. While Paulo made it to the panchayat once again, wife Lauretta lost the election.
In Aquem-Baixo, BJP leader Damu Naik and wife Deepa both lost the election. Similarly, the husband-wife duo of Sachin and Manisha Jadhav failed to make it to the Aquem-Baixo panchayat. Again in Aquem-Baixo, while husband and former sarpanch Inacio Dias have returned back to the panchayat, wife Pacencia has lost the election.
