Two Savios to head two panchayats in Bardez

MAPUSAr rIn the run up to the election of the sarpanch, it was literally a tug of water between the minister’s camp and the group of former sarpanch, each one trying to win over the support of the Independents. In the final analysis, the former Anjuna sarpanch appears to have outwitted the WRD minister’s camp by managing to woo most of the Independents to his side. rSources said that seven panch members including Savio Almeida have gone into hiding since Thursday and were not available at their residence. Almeida, however, said he and his supporting panch members were together and very much in the State. rHe said like-minded people have come together and formed a panel for the Anjuna development of the village. rRefusing to reveal who will be the sarpanch or the deputy, he said wait until 11 am on Saturday. rWater Resources Minister and local MLA, Vinoda Paliencar is out of station. Calls made on his cell phone went unanswered. rIn Bastora, Savio Martins of the group affiliated to Aldona MLA, Glenn Ticlo will head the panchayat while Manisha Naik will be his deputy. rAccording to verbal understanding within the group, Martins will be the sarpanch for first two and half years while Ranjeet Usgaonkar will take over as the sarpanch in the next half term. rManisha Naik who is the president of Aldona BJP Mahila Mandal will remain deputy sarpanch for the full term. rIn Penha de Franca the two top posts have been divided between Independent MLA and the BJP. rRevenue Minister, Rohan Khaunte’s supporter, Sapnil Chodankar has been selected to head the panchayat.