Team Herald
PANJIM: A panel backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept the elections to the five-member Harvalem Village Panchayat on Monday.
The candidates who were declared winners were Ajay Malik (Ward II), Mamta Divkar (Ward III), Gauravi Naik (Ward IV) and Asmita Malik (Ward V). Demago Malik (Ward I) was earlier declared elected unopposed.
Besides, elections were held for Ward VII of Orlim Panchayat and Ward Number VI (reserved for ST) of Morpirla panchayat. Meliny Piementa was declared elected unopposed from Ward VII of Orlim Panchayat, Sonu Velip emerged victorious in Ward VI of Morpirla panchayat.
Velip was backed by former deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant ‘Babu’ Kavalekar. He won by a margin of 93 votes.
The Harvalem panchayat had recorded a polling turnout of 91.17 percent on Sunday. There were 12 candidates in fray for four wards of the panchayat. Of a total number of 1,721 eligible voters, 1,569 voters cast their ballots.
The State Election Commission (SEC) had notified the general elections for the panchayat on September 18. The Harvalem village falls under the Sanquelim constituency represented by the Chief Minister.
In February 2013, the State government had notified Harvalem Panchayat as the 190th village panchayat in the State.