MARGAO: As the date of filing the nominations coming to end on Monday, nearly 598 candidates have made entries for a fierce contest in the 33 village panchayats of Salcete Taluka in the last five days.
On the fifth day, July 22, showed a maximum number of aspirant candidates rushing to the office of the concerned Returning Officers to file their nomination papers.
It has also witnessed several prospective candidates have already begun campaigning for the elections with their supporters.
Speaking to media persons Franky Rodrigues, one of the aspirant candidates said that he is again contesting the elections to finish all the pending works.
“Guirdolim village needs to be protected from destruction,” he stated.
Paul Pereira, another candidate, said that he was unable to complete a few of the developmental works due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“People have urged me to contest again and it is because of their wish that I have filed nomination papers,” he informed.
The Model Code of Conduct for the panchayat elections scheduled on August 10, has come into force from July 17. The dates for filing nominations are from July 18-25, while the scrutiny will be done on July 26. Thereafter, July 27 will be the day for withdrawal of nominations.
As per the information received from three different Returning Officers for 33 village panchayats of Salcete Taluka, as of July 22, they have received 598 nomination papers.
On Friday, Returning Officer 1, accepted 119 nomination papers from the aspirant candidates; whereas Returning Officer 2, received 118 and 98 prospective candidates submitted their nominations at the office of Returning Officer 3.
As informed by some of the candidates, basically those filing their nomination papers from the wards reserved for Scheduled Tribes expressed confusion due to the caste certificates issued to them. However, later the issue was resolved.
