MAPUSA
A little over 1.63 lakh voters across the 33 village panchayats in Bardez will exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 995 candidates and thereby stamp their preference either for family raj or new faces.
More than a dozen husband-wife duos and in some cases sons and daughters of politicians are contesting from various panchayats in the taluka.
The panchayat election also comes in the backdrop of the move by some Congress MLAs to defect to the BJP and could be seen as a barometer of public support for these MLAs.
In Bardez, Calangute MLA Michael Lobo and his wife Delilah who is the MLA of Siolim along with Saligao MLA Kedar Naik are identified as key legislators who could crossover.
A total of 13 candidates “ six in Reis Magos, three in Nadora, two in Salvador-do-Mundo and one each in Penha-de-Franca and Bastora “ were already declared elected unopposed.
The State Election Commission (SEC) has declared a total of 12 wards as sensitive in Saligao, Sangolda and Reis Magos while one ward in Candolim and two wards in Penha-de-Franca have been declared vulnerable.
While wards 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 in Saligao, wards 4, 5, 6 and 7 in Sangolda and wards 9, 10 and 11 in Reis Magos have been declared sensitive, Ward 3 in Candolim and wards 5 and 6 in Penha-de-Franca have been declared vulnerable.
There will be a multi-cornered contest in three panchayats “ Siolim-Marna, Anjuna-Caisua and Nerul “ where more than two candidates are in the fray in most of the wards.
Incidentally, the highest number of candidates numbering 11 is in Ward 2 which is reserved for women in the Siolim-Marna village panchayat.
Penha-de-Franca panchayat will witness a one-to-one contest in a maximum of seven wards (wards 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 and 11) followed by Camurlim, where six wards (wards 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7) will see a one-to-one fight.
The highest number of candidates in the fray numbering 57 is in the 11-member Anjuna-Caisua panchayat while the least number of candidates is in the five-member Nadora panchayat.
Wednesday’s election will also be seen as a popularity test for Calangute MLA Michael Lobo against his arch-rival former sarpanch Joseph Sequeira. Lobo has fielded a full panel in Calangute and campaigned aggressively for his candidates.
Former sarpanch Joseph Sequeira has also fielded a panel but has not publicly announced the names of the candidates from his panel.
Another ex-sarpanch, Anthony Menezes, who contested as a TMC candidate in Calangute, is also contesting the panchayat polls and has fielded candidates in some wards in the coastal village.
While Tourism Minister & Povorim MLA Rohan Khaunte has also floated panels in the three panchayats in his constituency and has campaigned aggressively for his candidates, Fisheries Minister & Tivim MLA preferred to work silently for his favourites without floating panels.
The first-time MLAs “ Aldona's Carlos Ferreira, Siolim's Delilah Lobo and Saligao's Kedar Naik “ have also not floated any panels but are backing some candidates.
