BJP names candidate for Ponda civic body chief

PONDA: After chief minister Pramod Sawant’s intervention, BJP has named Venkatesh Naik as their candidate for the post of chairperson of Ponda Municipal Council.
The election for the post has been scheduled on Thursday. The seat fell vacant after the ouster of MGP-backed Pradeep Naik by a no-trust motion on August 13.
BJP-backed councillors Vishwanath Dalvi and Shantaram Kolvenkar had expressed their interest in the post, however, the core committee of the Ponda BJP had asked them to decide among themselves by Monday.Since there was no consensus between the duo, Sawant met both of them and Venkatesh Naik, separately to make a decision.
To form the ruling group, Naik has to arrange at least eight members for winning the post, as the BJP-backed panel has only five members.
While Naik from the BJP-backed group has filed his nomination, Geetali Talaulikar and Virendra Dhavalikar of the MGP-backed group have also filed their nominations for the post on Wednesday.