MAPUSA
Four former chairpersons, two of whom are blue-eyed boys of the BJP, have come out unfazed in the reservations announced for the ensuing civic elections in Mapusa, while four ex-chairpersons were not as lucky.
The reservations have virtually ended the prospects of former sitting councillors Sushant Harmalkar, Tushar Tople, Chandrashekar Benkar, Martin Carrasco, Sanjay Mishal and Annie Alphonso from contesting the election, although the first three have the option to field their wives as candidates.
The municipal wards of ex-chairpersons Ryan Braganza and Sandip Falari, known to be very cozy with the top BJP leadership, have been declared general wards for the second term in running, clearing the way for the two stalwarts to contest.
The other two former chairpersons whose wards were also declared as general were Sudhir Kandolkar who is now with the Congress and Subhash Narvekar. However, both their wards were reserved in the 2015 municipal elections.
The wards of former MMC chairpersons, Rohan Kavlekar, Rupa Bhakta, Michael Carrasco and Ashish Shirodkar, have been reserved in various categories putting them out of the reckoning.
While Kavlekar, a former BJP mandal president of Mapusa, has the opportunity to field his wife in his ward, the doors for Bhakta, Carrasco and Shirodkar have been shut.
Incidentally, the ward represented by Bhakta has been reserved for the second term running.
While Ward 11 represented by Bhakta has been reserved for Scheduled Caste this year, it was reserved for women in 2015.
Besides Ward 11, three other Wards “ 2, 4 and 16 “ have also been reserved for the second consecutive term.
Wards 2 and 4 which were reserved as OBC General in 2015 have been reserved for women this year. Similarly, Ward 16 which was reserved for women general in 2015 has been reserved for OBC this year.
