CORTALIM: Many might have had written him off after he was arrested in an alleged bribery case, but Ramakant Borkar showed his supremacy after his panel won the post of Sancoale sarpanch.
In the election on Thursday, Sharan Metti defeated Mariano Rodrigues by 6-5 votes, which also saw tempers running high.
After the nominations of Metti and Rodrigues were received by Returning Officer Mahesh Nadkarni, Panch Narayan Naik insisted that the election be held by show of hands, but the move was stoutly opposed with Borkar demanding secret voting for a free and fair election. Six panchas, however had, supported voting by a show of hands.
As the issue remained unresolved, Nadkarni called up Mormugao BDO for her opinion which went in favour of secret voting. At this stage, a panchayat clerk informed Nadkarni that the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was on the phone for him. Nadkarni thereafter went to the sarpancha’s cabin to answer the phone and he (Nadkarni) was allegedly directed by Parrikar to hold the polls through secret ballot. Later after the voting, Metti was declared elected as the sarpanch.
Expressing happiness over the outcome, Borkar said despite being framed by his rivals, not only the panchas but all the people of Sancoale were with him. He however said his panel was not with local MLA Alina Saldanaha, but with the BJP.
“I had withdrawn in favour of Alina during the Assembly by-election, supported BJP at Lok Sabha polls which saw the BJP leading only in Sancoale in Cortalim constituency and I will continue to support BJP,” informed Borkar.
When five panchas Shivanand Bingui, Asha Naik, Shipla Naik and Metti along with Borkar were addressing the press after the election, Borkar was asked by Herald who was the sixth panch who had voted for his panel.
Borkar on the spur of the moment said the panch had left since he was unwell, thereby obviously referring to Derrick Vales who was ill and had immediately left after the voting. Borkar thereafter hastily said he did not wish to name anyone. However, Derrick had supported open ballot along with five other panchas.
Opposition Panch Narayan Naik told Herald that their panel would have won in case of an open ballot.
Later, Metti said he would work for infrastructure development of Sancoale which was lacking. BJP Cortalim Block President Tulshidas Naik and BJP General Secretary Jayant Jadhav congratulated Borkar for winning the election. Alina’s PA Cliff Vaz was also present outside the panchayat during the polls.
