Sarpanches, their deputies at the helm of 186 VPs
Politicians’ kin gain control over some village panchayats
Panaji: The elections to the posts of the sarpanch and deputy sarpanch were held for altogether 186 village panchayats on Monday.
The panchayat polls were held on August 10, while the results were out on August 12. A total of 78.70% voters had voted in this election.
Savita Tawadkar, the wife of the Speaker of the Goa legislative assembly, Ramesh Tawadkar was elected unopposed as sarpanch of Poiguinim panchayat, while Daniel Lobo, the son of the legislator couple, Michael Lobo and Delilah Lobo, was elected as the deputy sarpanch of the Parra panchayat.
Joseph Sequeira has been elected as the sarpanch of the Calangute panchayat, while Geeta Parab is his deputy.
Viola Rosaline Pacheco, the wife of former tourism minister Francisco Xavier ‘Mickky’ Pacheco, has been elected as the deputy sarpanch of Betalbatim panchayat.
The 72-year-old Rukmini Gaonkar, who has been elected as the sarpanch of Kirlapal-Dabal panchayat, is one of the oldest sarpanch elected on Monday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has claimed that it has succeeded in electing their candidates as sarpanch and deputy sarpanch on majority of the village panchayats in the state.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant congratulated all the newly-elected sarpanches and deputy sarpanches, adding that new panchayat members will take villages towards the path of self-reliance.
With the enhanced efforts and vision, the panchayats will definitely be the driving force of ‘Swayampurna Goa’ mission, he observed.
“I am sure that they will carry out their responsibilities with devotion and care,” he hoped.
State BJP president Sadanand Tanawade said that 128 to 130 village panchayats out of the 186 panchayats for which elections were conducted have BJP-supported panels on them.
“If you count our alliance partners like Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, this number could very well go up to 140,” he added, stating that some others like Francisco Xavier ‘Mickky’ Pacheco are also keen to join the BJP, and in that case the number of panchayats, which have BJP panels on them could further increase.
Tanawade also told ‘The Navhind Times’ that after the declaration of the panchayat election results, many winners had met either him or the Chief Minister.
“Now, however, after the elections for the posts of sarpanch and deputy sarpanch, we have asked our MLAs in the respective constituencies to meet all those sarpanches and deputy sarpanches supported by us and congratulate them,” he maintained, stating that in talukas like Sattari, Bicholim, Sanguem and Canacona, the BJP had captured cent per cent panchayats, while the party has conquered near 100% panchayats in talukas like Pernem, Sanvordem, Quepem, Priol, Madkai and so on.
Interestingly, a large number of sarpanches and deputy sarpanches have been elected unopposed.
Furthermore, most of the MLAs were successful in retaining some of their panchayats, while some other legislators received setback.
Although the panchayat elections were not held at the party level, the equations of several village panchayats were altered, mostly in favour of the ruling party.