TEAM HERALD
PERNEM: It was a setback of sorts for Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar as two of the four BJP-supported candidates lost the ZP polls in Pernem taluka.
While the Arambol and Torsem ZP seats were won by BJP-supported candidates, Arun Bankar and Ramesh Sawal, respectively, Morjim and Dhargalim ZP seats were won by two independent candidates, Shrimati Mandrekar and Tukaram Harmalkar.
Shrimati Mandrekar was backed by MGP leader Shridar Mandrekar and Tukaram Harmalkar was supported by Babu Azgaonkar.
Former ZP member Deepak Kalangutkar was the prominent loser in the ZP polls in Pernem taluka. He contested in Dhargalim and the election result was close with Tukaram Harmalkar winning by a narrow margin of 121 votes.
Shrimati completed her hat trick by winning three successive ZP polls, while BJP-supported candidate Arun Bankar defeated Daniel D’Souza, former Arambol sarpanch.
Former ZP member Deepak Kalangutkar and Morjim BJP-backed candidate Maya Shetgaonkar were also defeated in the polls. They were close to Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and their defeat has been a major setback to him. Both the ZP seats are in Mandrem assembly constituency.
In Dhargal, Tukaram Harmalkar (independent) polled 4,763 votes, followed by Deepak Kalangutkar of BJP (4,642) and independent Gurudas Pande (1,512).
In Harmal, Arun Bankar (BJP) polled 5,900 votes, followed by Daniel D’Souza (independent) with 2,801 votes and Umesh Talvenkar (independent) with 1,742 votes.
In Morjim, Shrimati Mandrekar (independent) polled 4,886 votes, followed by independent candidates Maya Shetgaonkar (3,469), Seema Gavde (1,378) and Sushila Govekar (440).
In Torsem, Ramesh Sawal (BJP) polled 4,455 votes, followed by independents Dyanneshwar Parab (3,772), Amit Sawant (696) and Murari
Parab (596).
