Dharmesh Saglani has accredited his victory to the voters and expressed solidarity with them for reposing faith in him. He also accused BJP for allegedly using all illegal means to win the elections. Dr Pramod Sawant has said that they were lacking in some areas and thus suffered defeat. He, however, has claimed that he will try to prove his majority in the SMC.
“Together for Sanquelim” panel led by Dharmesh Saglani made a clean sweep by winning 8 out of 13 seats for the Sanquelim Municipal council election that was held on April 6, 2018.
The BJP panel led by Dr. Pramod Sawant had to be content winning only three seats. This is a severe setback to BJP as Dharmesh Saglani has been successful for a second time to retain the Municipality under his fold.
After the results were declared, Saglani along with his panel met Poriem MLA, Pratapsingh Rane. Most of the winning candidates have attributed the victory to the voters. They have claimed that development in the ward will be their priority. Some of the winners have also stated that they will try to find jobs to the unemployed youths.
“The Sankhali village is joining all of us, like Bicholim, Pali, Mayem and Sattari also. People from Sankhali are very intelligent, they have thought and have voted. I am requesting all candidates to make Sankhali village a clean village. And I will always support Saglani,” said Pratapsingh Raoji Rane.
“The local MLA has used Government machinery and money power illegally in these Municipal polls. He was also seen threatening Government servants and locals, while saying that he would transfer them and also stop the Government schemes. Still people have voted for us and given a message to the MLA that they are with us, not with him. We are here to serve the people. I challenge the MLA to form the council with his panel. We will work for Sanquelim Municipal council under the leadership of Pratapsingh Raoji Rane,” said Saglani.
“As of now I know that my panel has won the elections and I was not directly supported by any party. The people have voted for my panel for the development of Sanquelim and they have rejected those who, they felt, were not suited for the development of the city,” Saglani told Herald.
“We are ready to take the support of any party as long as it helps us with the development of the city. If the government is not ready to help us we would have no other option but to go to court,” Saglani added.
“Some of our ward candidates were unknown to the people and money power was used in many wards. That’s why we have lost in most of the wards. Also I had very less time for campaigning,” said Pramod Sawant, MLA Sanquelim.
Dr Pramod Sawant said that they accept the mandate given by the people. “We accept the mandate of the people and would always work for the development of the city. We are elected for bringing about development of the constituency and will always work towards it,” Dr Sawant said.
When asked whether he would attend the first meeting of the council he was quick to say that it would all depend on who sits on the chair. “We are always committed towards the development and whether to attend the meeting or not depends on who sits there on the chair”, Dr Sawant added.
When asked whether he would be interested in getting his panel to form the council, Dr Sawant said that he would be interested if the winning candidates approach him. “Our attempts are on and if the winning councillors approach us we will surely form the council with our panel,” Dr Sawant disclosed.
