Team herald
PANJIM: Traditional BJP and Congress supporters, from ward 14, represented by former mayor Yatin Parekh, have one thing in common – both groups of voters are not exactly happy with the candidates fielded by the parties.
Considered one of the biggest wards of the Corporation of the City of Panaji with 1200 votes, Ward 14, has been left to decide on its own who to vote for as Parekh is keeping himself away from the campaign.
While no one in the ward is willing to come on record, in an informal chat, voters expressed their unhappiness at BJP fielding “not such a people friendly candidate in Siddharth Kunkolienkar” and “not such a party loyalist in Furtado.”
The BJP voters here are likely to vote for their beloved Manohar Bhai and not for Kunkolienkar. In the case of Congress, their vote would be for party and not for the candidate.
“I am a BJP voter but not happy with the party candidate. Though he is young and dynamic, he is not people friendly,” a 60-year-old resident said.
The reaction to Furtado’s candidature was almost similar. “Furtado is a man who cannot be trusted. He was the one who was responsible for Congress defeat somewhere in 1991. How can the party trust him?” P Almeida said.
The ward is dominated by Parekh who has been elected from here for the last 3 to 4 terms. Parekh had also tipped Furtado to the party ticket in the March 2012 Assembly elections. He lost by a huge margin.
“I have no comments to make on this election. I am neither supporting nor opposing anyone. Let the people decide,” Parekh said.
On the other hand Ward 13, represented by Bharati Heble is set to vote for the BJP. Most of the 1100 voters are happy with the works undertaken by Manohar Parrikar government.
