Vijay faces battle royal
Ward No 3: The battle lines for Ward No 3 of the Margao Municipal Council were drawn much before the government announced the Civic polls.
Nursing a grudge against sitting Councilor and former Chairperson Piedade Norohna for playing spoil sport to his plans to make it to the Goa Legislative Assembly in the 2007 polls, Sardessai groomed his lieutenant and Fatorda Congress block Congress President Joseph Silva to take on Norohna in ward No 3.
That Sardessai will leave no stone unturned to defeat Norohna to avenge his defeat in the Assembly hustings became known from day one after he hit the campaign along with his friend and Urban Development Minister, Joaquim Alemao. It is not uncommon to find both Sardessai and Joseph raking up the Assembly poll results to convey a message to the voters how Piedade played the spoilt sport and helped MLA Damu Naik’s victory.
Incidentally, the anti-Sardessai forces have got their act together and have conveyed to the rival camp that they are all geared up to take on the GPCC general secretary.
First, the Margao Loksamiti came out openly in support of Piedade Norohna, offering their full support to her candidature.
The BJP did not lag behind. In what is seen as a tactical move to keep the Sardessai camp under check, party MLA Damu Naik has fielded no candidate in Ward No 3 reserved for ST and has strongly rallied behind Piedade, fully aware that a victory for Piedade will not just checkmate Sardessai in Fatorda for the moment, but will help the party in the coming Assembly polls.
On paper, a total of five candidates – Caeitano Barbosa, Joseph D’Silva, Agnelo Furtado, Sebastiao Furtado and Piedade Noroha – are in the fray in ward no 3,but these political equations and combinations have virtually made the five-cornered contest into a Piedade versus Joseph battle.
