Team Herald
PONDA: With Chinmayi Naik already a front-runner for the post of Sarpanch, reserved for women this year in the Sanvordem panchayat, all eyes are on the close contest for the post of deputy-sarpanch. There are three strong contenders in the running– former sarpanch Sanjay Naik and ex-panch members Nitesh Bhandari and Shashikant Naik—for the post.
During the panchayat polls in Sanvordem this year, discussions were rife as to which of the panels, backed by seasoned local leaders, were the most likely to take charge—the panel backed by ex-MLA Deepak Pawaskar led by his brother and ex-sarpanch Sandip Pawaskar, or the one backed by present MLA Ganesh Gaokar and the BJP, which won 6 places.
Out of nine, six candidates backed by the BJP won the polls, namely, Sanjay Naik, Nitesh Bhandari, Shashikant Naik, Chinmayi Naik, Deepak Sawant, Unnati Vadar. The remaining three, from the Pawaskar-backed panel, are Siddhi Pawaskar, Gokuldas Naik and Nilesh Tari, who are currently in opposition. The majority panel in the panchayat body seems to be a repeat of the one elected in 2012, when Ganesh Gaokar was the MLA of Sanvordem constituency. a
Sources say if Sandeep Pawaskar’s wife Siddhi Pawaskar had been elected this year from ward 6 reserved for women, where her husband Sandeep Pawaskar was previously a panch member, she may have been chosen sarpanch, had she supported the other six winners in the panchayat body.
