Team Herald

Ponda: Panchayat election fever has gripped Ponda taluka with candidates moving around the villages with their door-to-door campaigns. The young and energetic youth aspiring to contest for the first time have not only taken on the might of former panchas and sarpanchas who are recontesting but have also turned out to be formidable opponents to panels backed by seasoned politicians.

The politicians count victory at the panchayat level as a great opportunity to win future assembly elections and that is one reason they have formed panels and are after trying to get them elected and strengthen their base.

By doing this, some politicians are trying to bring their kith and kin into the political arena.

Some candidates speaking on condition of anonymity said they were even pressurised to withdraw their nominations and are lured with job offers for withdrawing from the fray.

However, despite this, the freshers are optimistic about emerging victorious. In Ponda Taluka, local bodies are fully dominated by politicians and have even clipped the wings of some of their own supporters who were becoming stronger and the present reservation for OBC, ST, SC, and women have hit them badly.