Wards 12 in Comba, 22 in Aquem and 17 in Malbhat have become the fiercest battlegrounds in the elections to the Margao Municipal Council (MMC).
Margao MLA Digambar Kamat’s panel has played a major role in every election but he now faces major challenges from the BJP and independent candidates in almost all wards. Sushila Naik faces a threat from Ranjita Pai of the BJP and Suchita Malkarnekar as independent in ward 12, while old warhorse Damu Shirodkar faces the heat in ward 22 with candidates like Arthur D’Silva, BJP’s Kaustubh Kanekar, Prasad Onskar and chartered accountant Anup Borkar. Dhananjay Mayenkar who is already facing an anti-incumbency wave in ward 17 will now face BJP stalwart Rupesh Mahatme and some strong independents.
Kamat had a strong panel in 2010 election and had made Naik the chairperson of Margao municipality. However, Kamat is now being investigated in the Louis Berger bribery case and this could affect the prospects of his panel. It won’t hit Naik though in ward 12 as the BJP has been hit by a rebellion in this ward and BJP’s Pai has to contend with rebel Malkarnekar. The fallout has resulted in the BJP hinting that disciplinary action would be taken against party members supporting Malkarnekar.
The BJP face this election though is Mahatme who has been persistently refuting that there is a rift in the Margao BJP though he faces one in his own ward. Mahatme is contesting from ward 17 where a BJP member claiming huge support has also filed his candidature. “The party will deal with the rebellions as they wish to. Our job as candidates is to fight elections to win them,” said a defiant Mahatme. However, people claim that Mahatme has the support of the market vendors as Mayenkar of the Kamat group in no longer their favorite. Elvis Fernandes, an independent candidate who broke ties with the BJP, told Herald he has worked for people of Malbhat and is confident they will vote and elect him.
Ward 22 is becoming the most-watched ward. With big names like Arthur D’Silva, Damodar Shirodkar, Anup Borkar, Kaustubh Kanekar and Prasad Onskar the fight is heating up. D’Silva has already faced three poll-related complaints in a matter of days as the UGF and the other candidates are keeping strict vigil on his moves.
In the same ward, BJP has fielded a comparatively new candidate in Kaustubh Kanekar and the party is campaigning hard for him. Kanekar runs a cyber cafe in Aquem and BJP is hoping that the voters will go for the simple but educated candidate.
With Independent Borkar, who is a chartered accountant, and two former councillors and a PWD contractor in the fray, this ward will be hard to predict. According to sources the person who gets anywhere over 450 votes will win.
