Mayor and wife represent two wards of Miramar; Says Miramar voters are like his family
TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: There are two wards in Panjim that Congress candidate for the Panjim by-polls Surendra Furtado calls his own – Wards 9 & 10 in Miramar. The reason – they are represented by him and his wife in the Corporation of the City of Panaji.
“My voters from Miramar have supported me for the past 25 years and in the same manner they have supported my wife in the last three terms. Whatever is required for these wards we have done. We have built 10 joggers’ parks and one football ground,” Furtado said.
Furtado has nursed these wards for over two decades and a visit to the adjacent wards shows that the roads are well maintained, the drains proper and covered, the area clean and tidy.
Municipal polling records show that Furtado can easily pick up at least 350 votes in each of the wards bringing a minimum of 700 votes into his kitty from this area.
“People have always have been with us. My voters have not left me in the past and will not do so in the future; even though I have always been in opposition. I have only been mayor for the past 18 months. They are like my family,” Furtado said.
The votes from these wards give him a head start from an area that would normally, going by trends in the past elections, have not voted for the Congress.
Miramar area is made up of generally affluent people; some of who have returned to Goa after working for many years in the Middle East. The area also has businessmen, professionals and retired persons, all very politically aware.
This time, the political scenario in these wards will be different for the BJP as the votes are likely to go to the Congress candidate just as they do in the municipal elections and unlike the Assembly elections where the Congress has hardly made an impact.
