PERNEM/VASCO: As candidates for the February 4 Assembly elections have been filing nominations, two incidents of clashes in North Goa on Monday and a slogan shouting war in Vasco on Tuesday have grabbed the attention. Police managed to control the crowd at all three places and prevented supporters from engaging in major clashes.

On Monday, a verbal clash broke out at Pernem between the respective supporters of BJP candidate Rajendra Arlekar and MGP candidate Manohar (Babu) Azgaonkar, prior to the filing of nominations at the Pernem Deputy Collector office, where a large number of supporters and party workers had gathered. 

Sources say that BJP General Secretary Sadanand Tanawade was allegedly manhandled in the ruckus even as Arlekar was trying to control the crowd along with police officers. 

Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar escaped the melee as he had left the office after filing his nomination just minutes before Azgaonkar’s supporters reached there.

There was some tension at Porvorim on Monday evening as BJP candidate Guru Pawaskar and supporters had a verbal altercation with Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte and his supporters at Kharrem Succour.

Both groups filed complaints against each other for using abusive language and threatening each other.

Khaunte along with his supporters filed a complaint at Mapusa police station stating that while they were campaigning, the BJP candidate and his supporters came over and started abusing them verbally which almost led to physical violence. Khaunte alleged that Pawaskar’s supporters threatened to kill them. 

However, Pawaskar’s supporters filed a counter complaint at Porvorim police station against Khaunte’s supporters. 

In Vasco, tension gripped Deputy Collector’s office on Tuesday morning after the BJP and Congress supporters began a slogan shouting war that continued for over an hour. However the situation was tactfully handled by the police.

The slogan shouting war began at around 11.15 am when several Congress as well as BJP supporters assembled outside the office of Mormugao Deputy Collector located on the ground floor of the municipal building. 

The actual drama started when Congress candidate Sankalp Amonkar and BJP candidate Milind Naik arrived to file their nominations.