The Works

| 2002 |

Saffron flag hoisted in 8 taluka headquarters 

While the BJP has consolidated its position in the State with the 2002 polls, the party has made inroads in one important area.

The saffron flag has been hoisted in eight of the 11 taluka headquarters in the State, improving on the party’s performance from the 1999 polls.

Control over the taluka headquarters is considered to be of some importance, given the fact that municipal buildings and key government offices are located in these areas.

In the May 30 polls, the BJP MLAs elected in the taluka headquarters were Francis D‘Souza in Mapusa (Bardez), Rajesh Patnekar in Bicholim (Bicholim), Narahari Haldankar in Valpoi (Satari), Manohar Parrikar in Panjim (Tiswadi), Rajendra Arlekar in Vasco (Mormugao), Digambar Kamat in Margao (Salcete), Vasudev Gaonkar in Sanguem (Sanguem) and Vijay Pai Khot in Canacona (Canacona).

On the other hand, the Congress had to be content with the three victories of Jeetendra Deshprabhu in Pernem (Pernem), Ravi Naik in Ponda (Ponda) and Chandrakant Kawlekar in Quepem (Quepem).

Incidentally, none of the other parties could make their mark in the taluka headquarters,

On the other hand, the 1999 elections had portrayed a different picture altogether, with the taluka headquarters being distributed by most of the main political parties.

In the 1999 polls, the Congress had an edge with the victories of its four MLAs, Jeetendra Deshprabhu in Pernem (Pernem), Venkatesh (Bandu) Dessai in Valpoi (Satari), Ravi Naik in Ponda (Ponda) and Sanjay Bandekar in Canacona (Canacona).

The three BJP MLAs elected in those polls were Manohar Parrikar in Panjim (Tiswadi), Digambar Kamat in Margao (Salcete) and Prabhakar Gaonkar in Sanguem (Sanguem).

The other parties to have captured other taluka headquarters in 1999 were the two MGP candidates, Pandurang Raut in Bicholim (Bicholim) and Prakash Velip in Quepem (Quepem), the UGDP candidate Jose Philip D‘Souza in Vasco (Mormugao) and the GRC candidate Francis D‘Souza in Mapusa (Bardez).

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