Several senior councillors, ex-chairpersons to make way for new faces in ruling panel
MAPUSA
The fresh ward reservations have pushed the BJP to a corner and given the opposition something to cheer about in Mapusa.
The new reservation has ensured that most chairpersons of the outgoing council in Mapusa from the BJP panel cannot contest the civic elections from their own wards.
The two former chairpersons -- Sandeep Falari and Ryan Braganza -- who figured in the list announced by the BJP based on the previous reservation were knocked out from the race at least in their wards after Tuesday’s notification on Ward reservations.
Earlier, former chairperson Rohan Kavlekar also lost the race after his ward was reserved for women compelling him to field his wife as a candidate in his ward.
In fact with the new reservation, the BJP will be left with five outgoing councillors, including a chairperson and vice-chairperson.
Former chairperson Rupa Bhakta is contesting on the BJP panel from Ward 19 against another ex-chairperson, Sudhir Kandolkar.
Former vice-chairperson Marlene De’Souza from Ward 8 is the most experienced from the lot as she will be contesting for the fourth term this time around.
The other three – Chandrashekar Benkar (Ward 2), Sushant Harmalkar (Ward 4) and Swapnil Shirodkar (Ward 15) – are relatively greenhorns in politics and are contesting for the second time in the council elections.
Former chairperson and a wizard in council politics, Sandeep Falari, admitted that the BJP panel has been at the receiving end due to the changed scenario.
“Since the opposition approached the court, their grievances have been addressed. In such circumstances, one side is bound to get affected. Most senior councillors from our panel are out of the race. We will be meeting and weighing our options,” Falari said.
Conversely, the opposition has at least three former chairpersons who are politically savvy and with several years of experience at the top job in the council.
Former chairpersons, Sudhir Kandolkar, Michael Carrasco and Prabhakar Vernekar, who will be contesting from Wards 19, 4 and 2 respectively, have been chairpersons several times.
Former vice chairperson Vijeyta Naik (Ward 15) and ex-councillor Shubhangi Vaigankar (Ward 16) are the other two senior councillors in the opposition panel.
Former chairperson and the force behind the opposition panel, Sudhir Kandolkar, said the new council will see a lot of new faces and that augurs well for the development of the town.
“With the fresh reservation, I foresee a lot of new faces getting elected in the council. This bodes well for the development of Mapusa,” Kandolkar said.
“Compared to the ruling panel, we have one or two former chairpersons in our panel but that is not a big difference,” he added.
