PONDA
The situation has now prompted Dhavalikar to stay away from the panchayat polls, as he does not want to antagonise his supporters.
Sitting panchas, Sukhanand Gawade Kurpaskar and Ramchandra Raghu Naik are in the fray from Ward 9, while Santosh Phadate will face sitting panch Balkish Pancham.
Sukhanand Kurpaskar, who had won from Ward 1, and Santosh Phadate from Ward 5 are contesting from other wards because their respective wards are reserved for women.
It may be recalled that three time panch Sukhanand Kurpaskar was defeated in the 2012 election, but won the by-election held in July 2014 after former panch Shrikant Gawade resigned.
When asked what made him to select Ward 9 to contest the election, Kurpaskar said it is democracy and anybody can contest from anywhere. “Ward 9 is very close to my earlier ward, so I shifted here. People know that I can work,” he said.
Ramchandra Naik, sitting panch of this ward, said he worked tirelessly for the development of the ward for the last five years and hence he has no worries. “People trust me and they know my work,” he added.
Santosh Phadate, who shifted to Ward 11, which is far away from his earlier Ward 5, said it was public who forced him to contest from the new ward. “People saw how we work, hence many people from this current ward told me to contest from here,” Phadate said.
Speaking to The Goan, Balkish Pancham said she has good support from the ward and she continued to fight the election, no matter who contests against her. “I have no problem if Phadate is contesting against me. I have good support,” she said.
When contacted, PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar said he did not interfere in the panchayat elections as all are his supporters. “They all are my supporters, so I have not interfered,” he said.
