Hung Canacona gives edge to Vijay, Tawadkar struggling to rule
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 27 October 2015 12:43 IST
Hung Canacona municipal council is battling between two BJP leaders – sports minister Ramesh Tawadkar and former BJP MLA Vijay Pai Khot. Congress is nowhere.
Out of total 10 seats, Khot’s panel won 5 seats, including Prarthana Naik Gaonkar, who was elected unopposed.
Two independents – Nita Sameer Desai and Hemant Naik Gaonkar – hold the key to power.
Tawadkar’s panel won only 3 seats.
While Canacona requires 6 seats to rule, Khot claims he would form the council with the support of both the independents.
But Tawadkar, on the other hand, claims that besides two independents, he would also get former chairperson Shamsundar Desai from Khot’s panel.
Sources in the Khot panel claim that Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar personally phoned to woo both the independents, but they have shown allegiance to Khot.
Canacona taluka earlier had two Assembly constituencies – Canacona held by Khot and Poinguinim held by Tawadkar.
But in 2017, with Canacona becoming one Assembly seat, Khot was left out by the BJP.
Since then, the left-out former BJP legislator is out to defeat the sports minister at each and every stage.
Khot always had an edge over the municipality, as it was falling in the erstwhile Canacona constituency.
Though Khot still claims to be a BJP member, no ruling party functionary is presently on his side.
The talk in Canacona is that he would join hands with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, to cross swords with Tawadkar and the Congress candidate.
Though former Poinguinim MLA Isidore Fernandes had actively participated in municipal poll, none of the Congress-supported candidate could win a single seat.
