Candidates and MLAs have made it a mad rush to seek the blessings of Vasco’s political Godfather, Narayan aka Nana Bandekar. MLAs have been meeting Nana to seek his blessings for the panels formed by them while aspiring candidates are forming long queues in front of his office for the same reason in order to win the forthcoming Municipal elections.
Herald sources have confirmed that a majority of aspiring candidates, including present councillors and leaders who had drifted apart from the Godfather have been making attempts to bury their differences and to start afresh in order to gain his moral support.
“It is a known fact that during the last polls, candidates supported by Nana were elected and became MLAs and Ministers in the BJP government. This was possible only due to the influence and resources the man commands. Keeping this in mind, everyone wants to be associated with Nana,” said a former chairperson and councillor under the condition of anonymity.
More than aspiring candidates, the forthcoming Municipal Elections will be a testing time for sitting MLAs from Mormugao taluka and getting their panel members elected will be treated as a prestige issue by them.
From selection of candidates to resolving disputes within the party, the MLAs will face various challenges. This is why a few MLAs are yet to finalise their list keeping in mind various factors including revolt from party men as more than one person has been demanding for support. However, the news of the formation of Nana’s own panel has upset the calculations of all the MLAs due to which they have been making efforts to merge the lists (theirs and Nana’s) to overcome the threat of defeat.
Additionally, winning the Municipal Elections is also important because it could be their ticket to the next Assembly Elections if results are favourable. “Winning the elections and getting candidates elected from the panel is not a matter of prestige for me at least. But surely if more and more members of my panel are elected, it will be testimony enough to the performance of the MLA,” confesses Power Minister, Milind Naik.
In terms of hold in the council, the Vasco MLA, Carlos Almeida and Mormugao MLA, Milind Naik who are part of the BJP have made bigger efforts to have their hand in the political pie considering the number of wards under their constituencies. In a similar vein, Dabolim MLA, Mauvin Godinho is doing all he can to grab his share of pie. Initially, Mormugao had 7 wards which has now been increased to 9 while Vasco had 10, which has now become 12. Dabolim which consisted of only 3 wards saw another added as per the new delimitation of Municipal wards.
