Setback for Tawadkar, set to lose 4 of 6 VPs in Canacona taluka

Some of United Opposition panel winners of Loliem-Polem.

CANACONA

In a major jolt to the panels floated by Canacona MLA and Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar, four of the six panchayats in Canacona constituency slipped out of his hands as panchayat results were declared on Friday.
Tawadkar is set to lose control in the panchayats of Shrishthal, Gaondongrim, Poinguinim and Loliem-Polem, while he gained control in Agonda and Khotigao.
Khola panchayat, which falls in Quepem constituency, delivered a shock defeat for outgoing Sarpanch Purna Nayak and her husband and ex-Sarpanch Shrinivas Nayak. Their bitter rival and outgoing dy sarpanch Pandhari Prabhudessai won in his ward, but is a supporter of BJP and ex-Dy CM Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar.

POINGUINIM
Poinguinim Panchayat, considered to be the powerhouse of politics in Canacona, delivered balanced results, with the United Opposition claiming the support of six winning candidates, including the unopposed elected panch of Ward 4, leaving just three winning candidates, including Tawadkar’s wife, form the Tawadkar panel.
While Tawadkar’s wife, Savita, sailed smoothly against the united opposition candidate in Ward 9 (Amone) of Poinguinim, Tawadkar's candidate Ruthika Gaonkar lost to the United Opposition candidate Rasika Velip by 10 votes in Ward 1 (Marlim-Tirval).
Incidentally, a few of the winning candidates from the United Opposition are not affiliated to Tawadkar but are considered close to the BJP.
The winners were Rashika Velip, Pravir Bhandari, Satish Poinguinkar, Sunil Paingankar (Unopposed), John Barretto, Ashmita A Joshi, Shilpa Vipin Prabhugaongkar, Govind (Mahesh) Naik and Savita Tawadkar (Speaker and Canacona MLA Wife).

SHRISTHAL
At Shrishthal, the winners were outgoing Sarpanch Ramu Naik, Levia Naik, Shivray Deshmukh, Dashrath Gaonkar, Rajesh Velip (unopposed), Shejal Gaonkar, Ganesh Gaonkar, Akshadha Velip and Nilesh Janu Gaonkar.
Prominent among those who lose were ex-sarpanch Devendra Naik and ex-sarpanch Datta (Pandurang) Gaonkar.

KHOLA
The winning candidates at Khola panchayat were Tejal Pagui, her husband ex-sarpanch and panch Ajay Pagui, Krupesh Velip, ex-ZP Krishna Velip, Pradnya G Kamat, Priyanka Velip, ex-sarpanch and outgoing dy sarpanch Pandhari Prabhudessai, Prabhakar Vaiz and Priyanka Povitra Vaiz. Outgoing Sarpanch Purna Nayak and her husband ex-sarpanch Shrinivas Nayak lost both their seats.

KHOTIGAO
Two former sarpanchas, Daya Gaonkar and Rajesh Gaonkar, were defeated in Khotigao, while the winning candidates were Jayesh Gaonkar, Anandu Dessai, Krishna Gaonkar, Vrunda Vasu Velip and Poonam Gaonkar. Five of the seven winning candidates pledged allegiance to Tawadkar.

GAONDONGRIM
At Gaondongrim, the winners were Saloni Gaonkar, Ashok Velip, Anand Velip, Prabhakar Gaonkar, Sarita Velip, Vinita Gaonkar, Sarita J Gaonkar, Vinita Gaonkar, Ashok Biva Velip and Sarita Y Gaonkar. Yeshwant (Dhilon) Desai was elected unopposed.
Incidentally, Yeshwant (Dhillon) Dessai claimed the support of five newly-elected panchas, leaving Tawadkar’s camp to look for other winning candidates. Vishant Goankar admitted that the Tawadkar panel got 3 panchas and expected an elected panch to join their group.

LOLIEM-POLEM
Loliem-Polem created history of sorts, as eight from the panel of the united opposition and supported by ex-Dy Speaker Isidore Fernandes won and only one candidate won from Tawadkar’s panel.
At Loliem-Polem, Pratija Bandekar won by just two votes, as 8 out of 9 panch members were elected opposed to BJP 's Canacona MLA Ramesh Tawadkar.
The winning candidates were Nisha S Chari, Ratna Prabhakar, Chandrakant Sudhir, outgoing sarpanch Sachin Naik, Ashutosh Bandekar, Pratish Bandekar, Rajesh Naik, ex-sarpanch Ajita Lolienkar, and Supriya S Pagui.
Interestingly, Ajit Lolienkar informed the people's panel or joint opposition had won the panchayat elections, hinting the panchayat did not owe any allegiance to Canacona MLA Ramesh Tawadkar.

Agonda elects all new faces
CANACONA: Agonda panchayat will have all new faces in the new term, after a number of prominent candidates lost the elections.
The winning candidates were Karuna Kishore Phaldessai, Preetal Fernandes, John Fernandes, Nilesh G Pagui, Fatima Rodrigues, Canisha Fernandes and Ramnath Velip.
Those who lost were outgoing Sarpanch Badal Naikgaunkar, ex-sarpanch Milagrinha Fernandes and ex-dy sarpanch Shilpa Pagi.
Incidentally, four of the seven panch elects from Agonda were the first to visit Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar at his Canacona office and declared their allegiance to him.

Close margins in Canacona
CANACONA: There were nail-biting moments in some panchayats as some candidates won by wafer-thin margins.
Gaondongrim ex-sarpanch and seasoned ST leader Ashok Biva Velip won with just one vote (defeated Keshav Gaonkar). The votes were taken up for re-counting on three different occasions.
At Loliem-Polem panchayat, Pratiza Bandekar got the better of Nikita Naik by just 2 votes in Ward 6 (Polem), while John Barretto defeated Daya Pagi by just 3 votes in Galgibaga (Ward 5) in Poinguinim.
Suspense also prevailed at Khotigao, as two Wards (1 and 3) were taken up for re-counting several times, with votes changing in favour of either candidate on different recounts.