Cross-voting by BJP man helps MGP-backed councillor become Ponda civic body chief

Ponda: Cross-voting by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-backed councillor helped Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP)-backed Geetali Talaulikar secure the post of Ponda Municipal Council (PMC) chairperson on Tuesday. Talaulikar secured eight votes while BJP-backed Pradeep Naik got seven votes in the 15-member-council.
The post of chairperson was lying vacant since December 27 after the resignation of Shantaram Kolvenkar.Though Naik has already served as the first chairperson of the council between May 21, 2018 and August 29, 2019, he was contesting for the post for the second time.
In the May 2018 general election, the MGP-backed ‘Rising Ponda’ panel emerged victorious by winning seven seats. Naik was selected as the first chairperson.
BJP-backed ‘Ponda Nagrik Samiti’ was the second topper with five seats while the Congress-backed Ponda Citizens Progressive Front got only three seats.
Currently, MGP has four councillors including Talaulikar, Jaya Sawant, Amina Naik and Seema Fernandes while BJP has six councilors, Vishwanath Dalvi, Virendra Dhavalikar, Archana Dangui, Yatish Sawkar, Ritesh Naik and Anand Naik. Goa Forward Party (GFP) has two members, Venkatesh Naik and Chandrakala Naik while Shanatarm Kolvenkar, Naik and William Aguiar are now independents.
Talaulikar was initially supported by the three other MGP members, two GFP members and Kolvenkar. However a cross vote from the BJP side lead her to win the post.