PERNEM
Three political heavyweights claim victories in elections to panchayats in Pernem taluka, as results were declared on Friday.While Mandrem MLA Jit Arolkar claimed control in Agarwada, Palye and Mandrem panchayats, former Mandrem MLA Dayanand Sopte also claimed to have a hold on panchayats in Mandrem constituency. Pernem MLA Pravin Arlekar claimed victories in panchayats across Pernem constituency.
There were also winning contestants from the same family as Mandar Poke and Supriya Poke, who were former sarpanch and ex-panch members, won in their wards.
Former sarpanch Vaishali Shetgaonkar, who was contesting from Ward 3 in Morjim for the second time, was defeated by Swapnil Shetgaonkar, a relative of MP Vinay Tendulkar.
The battle in Ward 2 in Morjim was seen as a prestigious one and two sisters-in-law, Surekha Shetgaonkar and Vandana Shetgaonkar, were contesting there. Surekha won with a massive margin of 560 votes.
Ward 5 in Mandrem was a nail-biting finish as Kishor Shet Majarekar and Rajesh Mandrekar got the same number of votes. Rajesh was the eventual winner in a draw of lots.
The election saw the defeat of Pramila Desai, Vaishali Shetgaonkar, Tarika Tari, Raghoba Gaude, Rajvi Sawant, Pandhari Arolkar and Ekta Chodankar.
Many new faces were also elected and they included a young advocate Amit Sawant who defeated former sarpanch Ravaji Sawant by a large margin.
