Major surprises at CMC polls; 8 new faces

THE GOAN NETWORK

CANACONA

The electorate delivered major surprises at the Canacona Municipal Council (CMC) elections on Monday, voting into power as many as eight new faces and rejecting three ex-chairpersons in the 12-member council.

The polls delivered mixed successes for six former chairpersons, as three of them, included two veterans, were ousted, while three others, including the outgoing chairperson, were voted back to power.

Such was the tension surrounding the counting of votes, than one of the candidates collapsed in the counting hall during the second leg of counting, prompting the authorities to call for medical attention.

Except for two councillors from the outgoing council, Hemant Naikgaunkar (Nagarcem) and Nitu Dessai (Sawantwada), who returned to the council for a successive term, outgoing councillors Kishore Shet (Mastimoll), Ratnakar Dhuri (Kindlebhag), Maruti Komarpant (Patnem), Dayanand Pagui (Ourem-Palolem) and Divakar Pagui (Palolem) were defeated in the polls.

Interestingly, as many as three candidates won the elections by an identical winning margin of 55 votes, while a fourth candidate won by 56 votes.

The closest margin of victory was 22 votes (Supriya Dessai), while the highest winning margin was 356 votes (Dhiraj Naikgaunkar).

Shubham Komarpant (Patnem) polled the maximum of votes (521), while Amita Pagi (Kindlem) secured the least number of votes (314) by winning candidates.

In Ward 1 (Nagarcem), Hemant Naikgaunkar (372) defeated former chairperson Ranganath Naikgaunkar (317) by 55 votes.

Ward 2 (Chaudi), former chairperson Ramakant Naikgaunkar (491) defeated new entrant Levino Gracias (246) by 245 votes.

In Ward 3 (Delem-Mastimoll), Supriya Dessai (352) defeated Jayshree Shet (330) by 22 votes.

In Ward 4 (Mastimoll), Pandurang (Dhiraj) Naikgaunkar (488) defeated Kishore Shet (132) by 356 votes.

In Ward 5 (Kindlem), Amita Pagi (314) defeated Roshan Pagi (259) by 55 votes.

In Ward 6 (Ponsulem), Narcisco Fernandes (369) defeated Wilson Fernandes (292) by 77 votes.

In Ward 7(Kindlebhag), Gandesh Madgaonkar (383) was the giant killer defeating 5-term councillor and former chairperson Ratnakar Dhuri (277) by 106 votes.

In Ward 8 (Patnem), Shubham Komarpant (521) defeated outgoing councillor Maruti Komarpant (279) by 242 votes.

In Ward 9 (Sawantwada), outgoing chairperson Nitu Dessai (509) defeated Sanija Dessai (454) by 55 votes.

In Ward 10 (Ourem-Palolem), Simon Rebello (400) trounced former dy chairperson and outgoing councillor Dayanand Pagui (115) by 285 votes.

In Ward 11 (Devabhaga-Palolem), a newcomer Sara Naik Desai (389) defeated Sharmila Desai (269), also a new face, by 120 votes.

In Ward 12 (Palolem), Laxuman Pagui (325) outclassed a three-term councillor Divakar Pagui (269) by 56 votes.