Team Herald
PANJIM: Regardless of party loyalist unrest, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to put up a stellar show with its backed panel- fielded by newly inducted Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate, sweeping the municipal elections in Panjim winning 25 out of 30 seats it contested. The BJP’s gamble, at the cost of the party’s old and loyal guard paid off spectacularly with over 46 per cent to total vote share.
Though the party rebels, as alleged by Monserrate, tried their luck, it failed to deter the winning spirit of the BJP who managed to keep hold over their traditional wards- despite the delimitation- while making entry into new areas- which have been, otherwise, the strong hold of Babush- the uncrowned king of CCP.
The ‘We Ponjekar’ panel led by Surendra Furtado, though did not made much impact; but succeeded in giving befitting defeat to four sitting councilors- Kishore Shastry (6) Rahul Lotlikar (8) and Soraya Makhija (9) – all from BJP-backed panel. Three more sitting councilors Shekhar Degvekar from ward 23 faced defeat from Independent Santosh Surlikar while Rupesh Halankar lost in ward 29 to BJP-backed Silvester Fernandes.
Former councilor Rekha Kande – one of the BJP rebels- contested on ‘We Ponjekar’ panel- also lost in ward 21 to BJP’s sitting councilor Manisha Manerkar.
The other BJP rebels- Bharati Heble (4), Sandeep Heble (10), Suresh Chopdekar (28) Vishnu Naik (10) also faced defeat. While Naik contested as Independent, rest all three fought on ‘We Ponjekar’ panel.
Monserrate, who contested Panjim by-election in April 2019 post death of Manohar Parrikar on Congress ticket, had joined BJP in July 2019 along with nine other Congressmen. The victory in 25 wards, have made Monserrate present stronger in Panjim, which will go for general constituency election early next year.
“I don’t give any credit to rebel for my defeat in five wards. Rebels failed to make any impact. It is my fault and I take the complete responsibility,” Monserrate said adding that municipality elections are different to Assembly elections.
In the last Municipal elections held in 2016, Monserrate and BJP had a tight fight, with former’s panel winning 14 seats while BJP panel settling to 13. With the support for Furtado couple, Monserrate had formed the Council.
“We still need to work hard to go long way. BJP is a party which will not stop even after winning elections,” he commented.
Former Mayor Uday Madkaikar (14) and Deputy Mayor Vasant Agshikar (26), sitting councilors Pramay Mainkar (13), Shubham Chodankar (26), and Vithal Chopdekar (28) retained to power.
Babush son Rohit (3) and former Mayor Yatin Parekh’s son Karan (11) made their mark felt winning their first ever local body elections from their respective wards.
What is interesting is, eleven out of 12 women candidates, who contested on BJP backed panel- including a former Mayor Carolina Po and a long time CCP councilor and BJP loyalist Diksha Mainkar along with three young new faces- Aditi Chopdekar (18), Pranjal Naik (24) and Sandra Da Cunha (30). The other included sitting councilor Shubhada Shirgaonkar, Asmita Kerkar, Manisha Manerkar, Lorraine Dias and new entrant Shayani Chopdekar and Varsha Shetye.
The other winners from the panel include Yuvraj Fernandes (2), Prasad Amonkar (10), Bento Lorena (7), Dennis Edward (17), Nilesh Morajkar (19) and Sanjeev Naik (25) were among other winners.
Reacting to the result, AAP convenor Valmiki Naik, who supported the We Ponjekar panel said, “The voters of CCP have given their verdict. We at Ami (We) Pannjekars humbly accept the results, and congratulate the ruling panel for their victory”.
