BJP tightens grip on Panaji civic body as opposition panel secures just three wards
The panel led by Atanasio Monserrate, popularly known as “Babush”, secured a landslide victory in the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) elections, winning 27 out of 30 wards as counting concluded on Friday.
The counting process began at 8:00 am at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium following peaceful polling held on March 11.
Candidates backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party dominated the results, decisively defeating the opposition panel “Ami Panjekar” led by Utpal Parrikar.
Celebrating the victory, Monserrate said the results demonstrated the BJP’s organisational strength and voter confidence, adding that even a united opposition could not challenge the party’s dominance in the state capital.
BJP-backed candidates dominate across wards
Most wards were comfortably won by candidates aligned with Monserrate’s panel.
Among the prominent winners were Diksha Mainkar (Ward 22), Silvestre Fernandes (Ward 30), Shubham Chodankar (Ward 20), Rupesh Ravindra Halarnkar (Ward 28), Vithal Chopdekar (Ward 27), Vidhya Satish Gadkar (Ward 23), Kirti Sakhalkar (Ward 25), Karan Yatin Parekh (Ward 24), Manisha Manerkar (Ward 21), Shayani Chopdekar (Ward 15), Kishore Sastry (Ward 5), Krishna Ramdas Shirodkar (Ward 18), Asmita Kerkar (Ward 16), Varsha Hari Shetye (Ward 12), Prasad Amonkar (Ward 10), Yutika Zambaulikar (Ward 1), Uday Vaman Madkaikar (Ward 13), Nikita Naik (Ward 19), Kabir Filipe Pinto Makhija (Ward 9) and Prajot Santosh Vaigankar (Ward 14).
Several contests were closely fought, including Ward 30, where Silvestre Fernandes defeated Vaibhav Salgaonkar by roughly 100 votes.
Ami Panjekar manages only three wards
The opposition panel “Ami Panjekar” managed to win just three wards.
Its winning candidates included Leonid Furtado (Ward 7), Jack Ajit Sukhija (Ward 17) and Liberata Mendes E Achari (Ward 29).
Despite the limited success, the opposition maintained that it would continue to raise civic issues and challenge the ruling panel on governance matters.
Strong voter turnout reflects high civic engagement
The elections recorded a voter turnout of 69.07%, with Ward 23 reporting the highest participation at 81.94%.
A total of 69 candidates contested the polls across 30 wards, with voting conducted at 48 polling booths.
The ward structure included 10 seats reserved for women, 8 for OBC candidates, and one for ST.
The outcome also mirrors the 2021 CCP elections, when BJP-backed candidates won 25 of the 30 wards, reinforcing Monserrate’s strong political influence in Panaji’s civic administration.
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