SURAJ NANDREKAR
The third Mandovi, a ‘troubled’ bridge over Goa’s waters, has become a major bone of contention as far as the 2017 Assembly elections are concerned in Porvorim constituency.
Porvorim, is no longer just another constituency has three villages under its fold – Socorro, Penha de Franca and Salvador do Mundo – but has become a satellite town and the make-shift capital of Goa. The constituency has 21,192 voters, as per 2012 election rolls, of which 10473 are males and 10719 women.
As the 2017 elections draw closer the question remains whether Porvorim will again elect an independent candidate or will it vote for a party.
No doubt, Independent MLA Rohan Khaunte initially brought about development with support of then Chief Minister and now Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, however, after Parrikar’s exit from Goa a lot of development works remained incomplete as the sitting MLA fell out with the new dispensation
The constituency, which came into existence in 2012 after delimitation, has developed in leaps and bounds in past few years. However, the question now remains whether Khaunte will go independent or will he take the support of a national party?
As of now Khaunte is on record saying he is the mentor of the new regional front Goa Forward, but the grapevine suggests he is in secret talks with the BJP and the MGP.
If the deal with Khaunte does not work out, then BJP is likely to field Gurudas Pawaskar, who is currently the chairman of Sanjay School for Special Children, and enjoys support from party leaders.
Even though Khaunte has done work in the constituency, the presence of the BJP cannot be underestimated as the sitting MLA had won by just 900 votes. Besides this, Aam Aadmi Party has also announced the name of Rajesh Volvoikar from the constituency.
Despite brisk development, locals have lot of issues with traffic (due to construction of third Mandovi bridge) and water being major ones. “The daily traffic jams have become a headache in the constituency and we have urged the MLA as well as authorities to sort out the issue at the earliest,” says Vikas Haldankar, a resident.
The locals are also outraged over the digging work being carried out for sewerage lines. “The digging has cut electricity and telephone lines at many places causing inconvenience,” says Sneha Naik, a private employee.
While scarcity of water is another issue, it appears to have been somewhat manageable due to more storage tanks.
“The bridge construction and traffic is something the government has to look into. Forget the elders, even children are not spared the traffic jams in the afternoon when they return home from school,” says Sonia Shirvaikar.
