Manohar Parrikar might have officially won the Panaji by-election but for varied reasons Girish Chodankar is the true victor.
Girish Chodankar in polling a whopping 5059 votes displayed that rare brave courage by taking on the might of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and that too at a very short notice with just less than two weeks to campaign while Manohar Parrikar had commenced his campaign almost over three months ago. Unlike Manohar Parrikar who had all the resources at his disposal, Girish Chodankar ran a very low profile clean campaign, visiting almost every house in the constituency and winning the hearts of the people on account of his sincerity, honesty and humbleness besides being a well respected leader with a proven track record of having always delivered over the years on the work assigned to him. Girish Chodankar also did not have the money which the BJP and Manohar Parrikar merrily flushed around besides very highhandedly misusing his official position as Chief Minister and blatantly violating every parameter of the Model Code of Conduct while the hen-pecked authorities stood as mere spectators. To the credit of Girish Chodankar, Manohar Parrikar who always considered Panaji as his fortress had to this time around in his campaign desperately seek the assistance of all his Ministers and MLAs including the coalition partners and had to finally even frantically draft in the emergency services of Babush Monseratte. Despite all his politricks Manohar Parrikar was unable to win by a margin of 8000 to 9000 votes that he had bragged about and was also was not able to ensure his vow that Girish Chodankar would lose his deposit. Girish Chodankar has established a good base in Panaji and should continue serving the city as it is very unlikely that Manohar Parrikar will care do anything to uplift a city that he has so thoroughly neglected over the last 23 long years. Aires Rodrigues Advocate High Court C/G-2, Shopping Complex Ribandar Retreat, Ribandar – Goa – 403006 Mobile No: 9822684372 Office Tel No: (0832) 2444012 Email: [email protected] Or [email protected] You can also reach me on Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues Twitter@rodrigues_aires www.airesrodrigues.com
