MARGAO: Probable contestants for the Margao Municipal Elections from Sirvodem, Sarvodem and Calcondem area are eagerly awaiting the decision of the High Court on the petitions against the reservations filed before it as the status of all the three wards has changed this time.
Ward No. 15 which was reserved for women in 2015 is now placed in the general category and Doris Texeira who had got elected from here last time is actually awaiting Leader of Opposition and Margao MLA Digambar Kamat’s instruction on what to do.
The adjacent ward No. 16 which was in the general category last time is now reserved for OBC women and hence Manoj Masurkar who was elected in 2015 cannot contest from this ward and is looking at ward No. 15.
In fact as both are loyal to the Congress and are known to be good friends, many expect them to exchange their wards and contest the elections as they will be able to canvass for each other without any problems.
At the 2015 elections Doris Texeira contested from a re-aligned ward which was reserved for women and she won having polled 956 votes as against the 724 votes polled by Geeta Dessai who was the BJP sponsored candidate.
However, this time around there are quite a few aspirants to contest from Sirvodem with the Congress itself having four of its members in the fray. While Manoj may contest from Sirvodem as an adjustment, his cousin Mahesh Amonkar is also a very strong contender. There is yet another aspirant for the Congress support in the form of Seema Madkaikar.
Doris is also willing to contest from ward No. 15 but is awaiting Digambar Kamat’s instructions. “Although he had asked me to continue to work in Sirvodem, I am waiting for the final instructions now following the reservation,” she said.
Incidentally the Shadow Council for Margao has announced Veren D’Silva, resident of Sirvodem, as its candidate. Veren an engineer by profession is quite well known amongst the youth while his father is very popular with people of his generation.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to field Uday Dessai as its candidate as Uday has been very active with party work and has been very regular in putting up banners wishing the people of Sirvodem on every festival.
In ward No. 16 where Manoj Masurkar won in 2015 by polling a handsome 1083 votes while his nearest rival the BJP sponsored Adik Naik got only 543 votes. While it is presumed that Doris may contest from this ward reserved for OBC women, Deepali Sawal is also expected to be a candidate.
In fact sources revealed that if Deepali does not get the backing of the Congress, she will contest as an independent candidate as she is determined to offer her services as a councillor. The BJP on the other hand is expected to field Sheela Kakodkar in this ward.
Ward No. 20 that had elected Jafar Budhani in 2015 is reserved for women this time around and Jaffar has already decided to field his wife Shamim Banu Budhani as an independent candidate. Savio Coutinho, who had lost in 2015 having polled 724 votes, has already announced that the Shadow Council for Margao will support Poma Rajesh Kerkar.
Poma, who is very active in Calcondem area, is expected to give a tough fight to Shamim as she is quite well known in her area particularly due to her involvement in the community Ganesh celebrations.
