VASCO
Independent candidate Merciana Vas won the Cortalim ZP constituency by-election on Tuesday, retaining the seat which had been vacated by her husband Anton Vas on his election as Cortalim MLA.
Vas polled 4,463 votes and won the election by a margin of 2,952 votes defeating Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) backed candidate Lesley Gama (1,511) who came in second, followed by Congress candidate Valent Barbosa (1,360) and AAP candidate John D’Sa (293).
A large number of supporters gathered outside the Ravindra Bhavan and burst crackers and chanted slogans after the verdict was declared.
"I want to thank all voters for this thumping victory. I assure people that my doors will always be open and I will take up all works and complete the manifesto of my husband who was the outgoing ZP. We will work unitedly for the development of the Cortalim constituency," said Vas.
Anton Vas, who congratulated his wife, Merciana, on her victory, hit out at Congress for having made several attempts to misguide the people that he was a BJP person and that he believed in Family Raj.
"The Congress is finished and has been rejected by the people. I have always been independent and we had made it clear that we have supported the BJP government only for the development of the people,” said Anton.
“I want to reiterate that I did not want to field my wife as the ZP candidate, but my supporters insisted on her candidature and she will be the ZP for only the balance term of two years and we will decide on our next ZP candidate for the next election. I also thank panchas and sarpanchas of all panchayats in the ZP constituency for supporting my wife," said Vas.
