Team Herald
PANJIM: Panjim residents will vote to elect 30 new councilors for the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) on Sunday. There are 95 candidates are in fray – 57 males and 38 females.
The local body election will decide the prospects of sitting BJP MLA Siddharth Kunkolienkar (Panjim First), St Cruz MLA Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate (Progress for Panjim), who is planning to contest from the capital city in the 2017 Assembly polls and the Congress Party (Panjim United Front). Together they have fielded 80 candidates for the elections.
Voting will be through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at 68 polling stations. Counting will be taken up on March 8 at Goa College of Pharmacy.
The last elections held in March 2011 had seen a tough fight with the BJP-backed panel winning 14 and Monserrate, along with its allies Surendra and Ruth Furtado, winning 16 seats.
This time, it’s not going to be a straight fight between the BJP and Monserrate, as Congress and BJP rebels have entered the fray. Of the 30 wards, there will be straight fights in just eight wards, 14 wards will see a triangular fight and the rest have four or more candidates. Wards No 1 and 25 have six candidates each.
Despite introducing new faces, Monserrate has managed to keep a hold on his supporters, but BJP suffered major setbacks through rebellions. Nearly eight rebels are either contesting as independents or have joined hands with the opposition. The party is facing a major tussle in wards 1, 5, 12, 13, 15, 24, 27 and 30, many of which have been represented by party members.
Both – Panjim First and Progress for Panjim – have expressed confidence of winning more than 20 seats. Monserrate has gone a step forward, and referring to AAP’s historic victory in New Delhi last year, said his panel will get an Arvind Kejriwal like sweep. On the other, the Congress party is trying its luck in the CCP elections for the very first time. The party, which does not have a hold on Panjim constituency, has fielded 20 candidates and is hopeful that people will vote for ‘change’.
