PANCHAYAT WATCH

Some development, please 

Candolim is another famous beach in North Goa visited by tourists in large numbers. The residents of this beautiful corner of Goa would like the panchayat to initiate some development work. The Candolim Panchayat all this years worked under the shadow and support of ex congress MLA Agnelo Fernandes. However for the forthcoming panchayat polls, people expect a very tough fight considering the current MLA Michael Lobo has floated his panel with select members. The  panchayat body of Candolim was floated by the Ex MLA however for the last three years, eight of the ten members started working with the support of the current MLA. The issues faced by the people include an increase in the number of illegal constructions, the failure of tthe panchayat to maintain buffer zones, water shortages and power failures. MLA Michael Lobo said,” This time  75 % of the Candolim panchayat want development and we will win all the seats”.  

— Asmita Polji

When men spoil nature

Loliem-Polem a panchayat on the extreme south of Goa is positioned in a spot blessed by God. The Karnataka border to the south, Arabian Sea to the west and the Galgibaga river to the north fortifies the entire panchayat. A board at the entry and exit points of the NH welcomes and thanks one and all visiting or leaving this village. All looks well to visitors in the village but the truth is somewhat murky. The influental few in the village are trying to bring in projects and essentially ram it down the throat of the villagers. The elders recollect how they fought against a doctor who purchased land on the Madtitolop plateue and blocked the old access route to the beach, in fact it still remains blocked. Then the builders and hoteliers set their eyes on the pristine plateau at Polem overlooking the Arabian Sea and started drilling bore wells illegally. It required an agitation from the ever alert villagers of Loliem-Polem for it to stop.

This village again got wide attention and media coverage when the well connected and influental set their eyes on a sacred plateau which is home to the Bhagwati temple. This time the call was to build a prestigious institute called IIT, with promises of 24X7 water, electricity, better roads, health facilities, garbage treatment plant, business opportunities, jobs, reservation for seats in the institute etc. These promises fell flat when the officials of the IIT had a face to face discussion and the pro IIT villagers had to beat a hasty retreat from the village. This is a village where the residents struggle to get the minimum facilities and have to request their MLA to intervene. 

— Abel  Barretto

It’s not what you see 

With battle lines being drawn between old and new faces in seven Panchayat bodies under Mormugao Taluka, the MLA’s and other political bigwigs from Mormugao Taluka have kept themselves away from the daily developments. This is to ensure their support amongst their cadre is not divided. They are indirectly backing a few of their strong supporters but till date are not coming out openly for campaigning. 

In Cansaulim-Arossim-Cuelim (CAC) Village Panchayat, the village groups who have been fighting to preserve the identity of their village are upset with the old faces. They have floated their panel by extending support to six new faces in the eleven member panchayat body. 

Similarly the old faces too are campaigning tirelessly to return to power. Though all the wards from CAC Panchayat willl witness close fights, the interesting fight will be in two wards. Ward number 4 where former CAC Sarpanch Martha Saldanha will have a straight fight against her rival Evans Fernandes, while the fight between incumbent Panch Jose Manuel and his rival Francisco Desa from ward number 1 will be closely watched.

— Navin Jha

Rohan’s merry men ahead 

With only a few days left for the crucial panchayat polls across the state, an intense battle is on the cards in Porvorim constituency with the minister Rohan Khaunte’s candidates already earning a slight edge over others in all the three panchayat bodies namely Socorro, Salvador De Mundo and Penha De Franca.

 While Khaunte claims he has not fielded any panel in the panchayat poll, the minister admits that he has his people in the process “I have put my people in all the three Panchyats of Socorro, Salvador De Mundo and Penha De Franca and already one member in Socorro and three in Salvador de Mundo have won  unopposed. We are focusing on clean and transparent functioning of the panchayats with people oriented development” said Khaunte. 

Panjim city’s suburban locality of Porvorim is a cluster of three village panchayats with Salvador de Mundo with a voting population of 4,721, Socorro having around 9,000 while Penha de Franca with 10,500.

— Vrishank Mahatme

 Games politicians play   

With a total number of 191 candidates vying for the 53 posts in the seven village panchayats of Sanguem taluka, the political leaders have maintained a distance from village politics as they do not want to mess up their political status. As of date there is no instance of any political party having fielded its candidates in the seven panchayats and neither the local MLA Mr. Prasad Gaonkar nor the Ex-MLA Mr. Subhash Phaldessai have thrown their weight behind any of the contesting candidates.

Bhiku Kalmo ex-sarpanch of Netravali Village Panchayat who is contesting from Ward No. 1 of Netravali Village Panchayat said he would win with a clear  majority. Bhiku Kalmo is however optimistic of supporting the majority candidates who come forward to form the panchayat. “Party does not  matter but what matters is the development of the village” said Bhiku Kalmo.

People in Sanguem constituency are however closely watching the one to one fight at Ward No. 2 of Molcornem Village Panchayat where Mr.  Shyam Gaonkar,  brother of Sanguem MLA  Mr. Prasad Gaonkar is contesting against Mr. Anthony Fernandes.

— Alfred Fernandes

Kin-kin contest 

The Verla Canca village Panchayat in its last term saw five Sarpanchas and two Dy Sarpanchas. These five Sarpanchas and dy Sarpanchas were changed after a no confidence motion was moved against them. However all of them have filed their nominations and will be contesting the elections.

Milton Marques who is an Ex ZP and Ex Sarpanch of Verla Canca Panchayat is contesting the election and Mohan Dabhale who is also a ex Sarpanch of Verla Canca is contesting against Milton Marques in ward 6. Adding to this, the Siolim NCP Candidates Abhijeet Dhargalkar who contested for assembly election is also contesting against Milton Marques.

In the same Panchayat, two more candidates and family members namely Amita Vasudev Korgaonkar and Puja Anand Salgaonakr are contesting against each other in the same ward. This ward number 2 is reserved for women and the sister in laws are facing off.  

The history of this panchayat is it was supported by the Ex MLA of Siolim Dayanand Mandrekar who lost in the last assembly election. for the lastthirty years , he has been floating his panel but this time he has not but is supporting a few candidates.

— Asmita Polji