From housewives to businessmen,Margao civic polls has it all

From housewives to businessmen,Margao civic polls has it all
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, OCT 13
Half-a-dozen road contractors, barmen, housewives, seasoned campaigners, businessmen, besides a couple of advocates et al are in the fray for elections to the 20-member Margao Municipal council.
Most of the road contractors are contesting from the Fatorda area of the Margao Civic body. It is not out of place to mention here that in the last Municipal polls, road contractors had plunged in the electoral fray and a couple of them had emerged victorious in the hustings.
There’s no dearth of husband and wives in the fray too. MMC sitting Councilors – Livramenta Barretto and Babita Naik – are re-contesting the ensuing polls along with their husbands. While Livramenta is contesting from Ward No 4, her husband is locked in a battle in Ward No 9.
Similarly, while Babita is contesting from ward No 7, her husband and former vice-Chairperson Sadanand Naik is in the fray in Ward No 6.
That’s not all. The kith and kin of former Fatorda MLA and Minister, Luis Alex Cardozo are in the fray from two wards. While his son Tito is in the fray in Ward no 9, his daughter Alvina is contesting from the reserved ward No 4.
After a decade and half, former Chairperson Savio Coutinho is a notable absentee in the list of candidates from ward No 16. However, he has fielded his wife, Pratima from the ward, who is locked in a five-cornered contest in ward No 16.
Former Chairpersons, who are in the fray in the ensuing polls are Doris Texeira, Johnson Fernandes and Piedade Norohna. Former Councilors who are making a bid to return to the Civic body includes Dayanand Deulkar, Rupesh Mahatme, Zarinha Shaikh, Sadanand Naik, Durgadas Prabhu and Sushila Naik.
Nearly half the number of sitting Councilors in the fray are vice-Chairperson Raju Naik, Babita Naik, Piedade Norohna, Gonzaco Rebello, Narayan Fondekar, Raju Shirodkar, Manjusha Kaskar, Livramenta Barretto, Ramdas Hazare, Johnson Fernandes.
The Fatorda Block Congress president Joseph Silva – a close aide of GPCC general secretary Vijay Sardessai — is in the fray from Ward No 3 and is pitted against Sardessai’s bete noire Piedade Norohna.