PONDA: Ponda Congress has said they will back candidates of Ponda Citizens Progressive Front (PCPF) in all wards of the municipality for upcoming polls and that the candidates for all the wards will be announced on April 10.
“After the declaration of candidates, nomination papers will be filed on the same day,” said PBCC president John Pereira, while addressing media.
Ashok Naik, Arun Gudekar and other members of PBCC were present for the press briefing.
Ponda Congress will win the municipality polls with a thumping majority this time, said Ashok Naik. Party is sure about winning 13 of the 15 seats and reservations have benefited the party in a right way, Naik added.
In the last municipal election, the party had managed to win just one seat, but this time the party is confident of getting a majority, said Pereira. When asked further in this regard, Pereira said that Congress MLA is the biggest plus for the party.
Former councillors Lalan Naik, Diksha Naik and Kishor Naik will be part of the PCPF’s panel this time and rest all candidates will be new faces, said Pereira.
Meanwhile, the Congress-backed panel is banking on the issue of poor development by the municipality and the split between BJP and MGP.
Senior leader of the party and Ponda MLA Ravi Naik, speaking to this daily, said that the last council backed by BJP and MGP together failed miserably to deliver what people had expected and so they will vote for a change.
During the last municipal elections, BJP and MGP-backed candidates had managed to defeat Congress. To add to that, even the local MLA was of the alliance partner.