the goan I network
PONDA
Seven sitting councillors of Ponda Municipal Council (PMC) will contest the polls on April 29, while an equal number of sitting councillors will not seek re-election.
The sitting councillors, PMC Chairperson Dr Radhika Nayak, Sunil Desai, Shanti Naik, Vidya Punalekar, Shivanand Sawant, Vincent Paul Fernandes and Sitaram Dangui have opted to remain out of fray, while councillors Venkatesh Naik, Geetali Talaulikar, Nidhi Mamlekar, Vishwanath Dalvi, Shantaram Kolvekar, Irvin Soares and Lalan Naik are in the fray.
The spouses of Shivanand Sawant and Vincent Fernandes are contesting from their respective wards, which have been reserved for women.
Sitaram Dangui and Shanti Naik withdrew their nominations, while Dr Nayak and Vidya Punalekar could not contest in their reserved wards.
Sunil Desai had contested the last assembly election and may have chosen to remain out from municipal politics.
Besides these sitting councillors, a group of former councillors Sanjay Naik, Pradeep Naik, Mahadev Khanolkar, Manoj Keni, Diksha Naik, Kishore Naik, Seeta Kakodkar and Naguesh Priolkar are contesting these elections. Khanolkar is a three-time councillor and is seasoned in local politics.
