Team Herald
VASCO: While all wards of Mormugao municipality will witness straight battles between two or three strong contenders, the fiercest battles may be seen in Wards 1, 2, 4, 10, 14, 16, 21, and 25. Moreover, this election will be not only a testing time for the candidates, but also a testimony of the strength of the present MLAs.
MLAs Milind Naik, Carlos Almeida and Mauvin Godinho are backing candidates in all wards, but they will face opposition from their own upset ‘supporters’, who are contesting as independents.
In Ward 1, BJP MLA Milind Naik is backing former councillor Shekhar Khadapkar, while Diksha Talavanekar from BJP is contesting against him. Also contesting from that ward is Sandesh Mesta, who is backed by Congress leader Sankalp Amonkar.
All of them are aiming for the local as well as Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) employees’ votes, but who will get MPT’s support, only time will tell. Presently, everyone claims to be having the support of MPT staffers.
Similarly, a straight fight is expected between the Congress and BJP candidates in Ward 2. Although there are three candidates in the fray, sources suggest that it will be a straight fight between former Chairperson Bhawana Bhosle and former Deputy Chairperson Rohini Parab. Bhosle has the support of Naik, while Parab, who broke ties with the BJP, now has the support of Amonkar and blessings of city industrialist Narayan Bandekar.
Ward 4 will see eight candidates go head-to-head, while Ward 10 will have 16 candidates; two or three candidates even come from the same party.
It was rumoured that Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida had a tough time selecting the candidate from this ward, but in the end it was Jayant Jadhav who finally became the official candidate for the BJP. Jadhav, however, will go up against many others who were with the BJP in the last assembly elections.
Meanwhile, Ward 14 is becoming a much-watched ward. Present Chairperson Lavina D’Souza is all set to fight former Chairperson Fiola Rego and four strong independents. Lavina claims that she is independent and has not support from any leader or any party, including Almeida, while Rego is enjoying the support of industrialist Bandekar. This ward is also being watched as it has just been created through the new delimitation.
Similarly, Wards 21, 22 and 25 may witness close fights. In Ward 21, Almeida-backed candidate Yatin Kamurlekar will square off with former Vice Chairperson Tara Kerkar and six strong independents. Ward 25 will witness a fight between former Chairperson Kritesh Gaonkar, Gracious Coutinho and Noronha Savio. While Kritesh claims to have the support of Dabolim MLA Mauvin Godinho, Gracious broke ties with Godinho and is presently backed by industrialist Bandekar.
