Sawant wins back his civic prestige after 10 long years

When Pramod Sawant conceded his political dominance in the Sankhali civic body to Dharmesh Saglani of the Congress, he was an up-and-coming leader in the party with very little indication that he would be Goa’s Chief Minister. As Sawant led the party to victory in the Sankhali Municipal Council after 10 years he is quite firmly the party’s numero uno in the State.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has managed to wrestle the Sankhali Municipal Council away from the hands of Dharmesh Saglani after a decade. The BJP-backed panel has managed to secure wins in 11 out of 12 wards ending the long-running rule of Saglani in Sankhali.

CM Sawant wasn’t able to get the Sankhali Municipal Council under him even after being the MLA of the constituency for the last 15 years and holding the topmost political position in the State for several years.

Former chairperson Dharmesh Saglani has been ruling the roost in the Sankhali municipality for the last 10 years. He was defeated by BJP-supported candidate Rashmi Desai in the closely fought battle of Ward No. 4. Sankhali was a battle of prestige for CM Sawant as Saglani had contested with a Congress ticket and had inflicted huge damage by garnering a huge number of votes and finishing just 666 votes short of a win.

CM Sawant has avenged the damage by winning 11 out of 12 seats. The BJP-backed candidate also defeated Saglani by 30 votes.

Former chairperson and Sawant’s political opponent Saglani said, “I accept the defeat with full humility. It is probably because I couldn’t reach the people effectively and also because of various other factors I have not been able to secure a win.”