MARGAO, OCT 21
Strange is the approach of Urban Development Minister, Joaquim Alemao to the ensuing Municipal Polls.
Alemao has stayed away from campaigning in Cuncolim so as not to antagonize any of the candidates contesting the civic polls. But, that has not stopped him from making repeated presence in Margao in support of candidates fielded by his close aide and GPCC General Secretary Vijay Sardessai.
If Alemao descended in Chandrawado-Fatorda on Sunday to open the election office of Fatorda block Congress president Joseph Silva, he made his presence in Mungul in ward No 8 – this time to open the election office of Gonzaco Rebello, who is seeking re-election from the ward reserved for OBC.
It is not out of place to mention here that the Urban Development Minister has claimed that majority of the candidates contesting the Cuncolim Civic polls swear loyalty to him. The Cuncolim MLA, however, has refrained from fielding his panel of candidates, apparently to ward off any resentment from the defeated candidates.
In the last elections too, Alemao had preferred to stay away from campaigning, but had expressed his support to some of the candidates on the eve of the polls. Sources in the know said the MLA will follow the same principle this time too, sending overt and covert messages to the voters in support of particular candidates.
Meanwhile, if Urban Development Minister had earned the wrath of the political class in Margao on ward reservation, Alemao has received flak in Cuncolim too, especially in Ward No 5 of the Cuncolim Municipal Council, where his man Friday Filon Vaz is in the fray.
