QUEPEM: Quepem MLA Babu Kavlekar has gotten nine of his candidates elected to the Quepem Municipal Council (QMC) and has yet again proved his strength in Quepem. However, he is now faced with the dilemna of choosing the chairperson. Several councillors have staked their claim for the seat, but the final decision will be taken by him.
Presently, Deepali Naik, Dayesh Naik, Filu D’Costa, Chetan Haldankar, Rashmi Bhandari, Raul Pereira, Luizinho Carvalho, Paulo Fernandes, and Williams Fernandes are in Kavlekar’s panel. Dayesh Naik has been elected three times consecutively, Filu has been elected twice, while Raul has beeen elected five times.
Amol Kanekar and Manuel Pereira are the other two newly elected councillors. Kanekar is in his second term and Manuel Pereira is in his sixth term in the QMC. Both are claiming to be opposition councillors, which has put them out of the race for the chairperson’s post.
Dayesh is considered to be Kavlekar’s closest aide and has retained the council for three years even when the State was ruled by BJP. He even managed to get elected from a different ward in this election.
Filu D’costa has been elected twice from Ward 3. He is a manager at a famous casino and has been kept away from the chairperson’s post as he couldn’t dedicate much time for the job.
