SANGUEM
Voters in Sanguem town came out in large numbers on Friday to participate in elections to elect 10 councillors at the Sanguem Municipal Council (SMC).
As many as 4,354 of the 5,343 voters cast their ballots registering the highest percentage (81.49%) among the five civic bodies that went to polls on Friday. The turnout included 21 Covid patients
Ward 10 registered the highest voter turnout (89.97%) while Ward 6 recorded the lowest turnout (77.29%)
Except for six former councillors in fray, a large number of youth and women are staking claim to be the next councillors of SMC.
With the chairperson’s post being reserved for women, 19 women are among 43 candidates and as many as six of the women candidates are contesting in Ward 19 alone.
The voters who exercised their franchise in the 10 wards were Ward 1 (351), Ward 2 (453), Ward 3 (344), Ward 4 (683), Ward 5 (325), Ward 6 (422), Ward 7 (585), Ward 8 (310), Ward 9 (269) and Ward 10 (612).
Barring a stray incident between supporters of two candidates in Ward 3, the elections to the SMC were peaceful.
A huge rush was seen throughout the day at the polling booth in the town, as voters from three booths were allocated one centre.
All candidates are optimistic and claimed that they would emerge victorious in the poll results schedule for Monday.
Former MLA Subhash Phaldessai and BJP spokesperson said the party has fielded candidates in all 10 wards and claimed that all BJP-backed candidates would win the SMC elections. Phaldessai, however, chose not to name the 10 candidates backed by the party.
