Madgao Loksamiti fields 14 candidates

MARGAO, OCT 19
Madgao Loksamiti on Tuesday announced its list of 14 candidates for elections to the 20-member Margao Municipal Council, with Samiti leaders asserting that it is not concerned whether some of its candidates have the backing of the BJP or other political outfits.
“The Loksamiti is not concerned if our candidates have the support of the BJP. This election is not fought on party lines,” Samiti spokesman Mohandas Lolienkar said.
He was reacting to queries from newsmen that the Samiti is backing the candidature of Leena Katkar in Ward No 13 and Carol Poinguinkar in Ward no 19, who have been overtly supported by the BJP in Margao. In fact, the BJP has claimed that Leena Katkar is the official candidate of the party in Ward no 13 and that the party is supporting Carol Poinguinkar in ward no 19.
Asked what action the Samiti would take in the event its candidates after getting elected switched sides to the BJP, Lolienkar said the Samiti will resort to various options, including going to the people to expose the candidate.
The Loksamiti faced a barrage of queries from newsmen over the choice of particular candidates being supported by the panel.  Replying to a query, Lolienkar and other Samiti members feigned ignorance when newsmen pointed out that one of there is a matka agent, while another is the wife of a builder. Lolienkar, however, said that the Samiti can act only initiate action against the matka bookie only if prosecuted by the court and added that the panel has no problem in supporting the wife of a builder.
He said the Samiti has decided to support the candidates after scrutinizing their applications.
Lolienkar said the Loksamiti is a confluence of people from all sections of society and from all walks of life, who have one fundamental goal to make Margao more loveable and live-able. “We have pledged to move on from being mere complainants about the civic problems of Margao. Our mission is to build a team of solution providers and to choose leaders who will the carry the voice and will of the people of Margao’, he added.
The 14 candidates supported by the Loksamiti are Gregario Dias (1), Ignes Crasto (2), Piedade Norohna (3), Anwar Sayyed (5), Babita Naik (7), Purnanand Chari (8), Raju Madkaikar (11), Leena Katkar (13), Dhananjay Mayenkar (15), Sandra Fernandes (16), Avinash Shirodkar (17), Mohammed Iqbal (18), Carol Poinguincar (19) and Damodar Shirodkar (20).