File pic of jubilant BJP candidate and supporters after the results for South Goa seat.
MARGAO
Who will be the new chairperson of the South Goa Zilla Panchayat? Will it be Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho’s nominee, Anita Thorat, who had won the Sancoale seat unopposed? Or, will it be SuvaraTendulkar, the two-time Zilla Panchayat member from Sanvordem represented by PWD Minister Deepak Pauskar?
And, will the BJP core committee settle in favour of Davorlim ZP member Ulhas Tuemkar, who has retained the seat with comfortable margin or will Dy Chief Chandrakant Kavlekar push in for the candidature of his close aide, Barcem ZP member Khushali Velip.
These questions have come to the fore in the BJP camp on Sunday as the ruling party swept the polls for both the North and South Goa Zilla Panchayats on the eve of the oath-taking ceremony of the ZP elect members at the Secretariat on Monday.
If sources are to be believed, the BJP ZP members will go into a huddle with the party top brass, including the core committee in Panaji later on Monday, which is expected to finalize candidates for both the North and South Goa ZP Chairpersons and vice-Chairpersons.
Sources in the ruling party said the leadership question in respect of the South Goa Zilla panchayat will be decided by the party’s core committee. A party leaders said there should not be any problem to decide on the nominees for the posts of Chairperson and vice-Chairperson given that the party has won majority seats in the 25-member South Goa Zilla Panchayat seat.
Questions are being raised in political circles whether Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho will bat for the candidature of Sancoale ZP member Anita Thorat. The BJP had opened its account for the South Goa Zilla Panchayat after Anita Thorat had won the Sancoale seats after the Congress plans to field a candidate ended in a fiasco.
Moreover, sources say the Panchayat Minister may put his foot down in support of Anita Thorat for the coveted post given that the Zilla Panchayats come under the ambit of his Panchayat portfolio.
Ruling party sources informed that two-time Sanvordem ZP member Suvarna Tendulkar may also emerge as a strong candidate to head the South Goa ZP body.
For the post of vice-Chairperson, the party may not have dearth of candidates, with sources saying that two-time ZP member representing Davorlim seat, Ulhas Tuemkar may emerged as a front runner. Though Ulhas was perceived as a strong candidate for the post of ZP Chairperson during the last term, the party leadership had settled for Navnath Naik, who had completed his full-five year tenure.
Three-time Barcem ZP Member, Khushali Velip, considered a close aide of Dy Chief Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar is perceived as another ruling party member, who may emerge as a strong candidate for the post of vice-Chairperson. Khushali Velip, was earlier a member of the Congress party and had embraced the ruling BJP when Kavlekar along with nine other Congress MLAs had joined the BJP.
