Panaji, March 14 (IANS) Fifteen of the 30 seats in Goa's only municipal corporation have been won by women, poll results announced Monday revealed.

The fifteen women victors are spread across two panels floated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a local political strongman and state Education Minister Atanasio Monserrate.

"Of course we are happy. This shows that women are the future of politics," said corporator Vaidehi Naik from ward XII, who was part of the 'Panaji First' panel backed by the BJP.

Nine seats were reserved for women under the 33 percent reservation norm. The elections were held Sunday.

Of the 30 seats, the Monserrate-backed panel won 16 and the BJP-sponsored panel got 12. Two Independents were also elected.

Former mayor Carolina Po, who won from Ward IV as part of the Monserrate panel, said the overwhelming participation of women in civic politics was a good sign.

"This bodes well for women. It also shows that voters in Goa are mature enough not to choose their candidates on the basis of gender," said Po, whose term as mayor of Panaji was riddled with numerous allegations of corruption.

"In our panel we had given more representation to women than the stipulated 33 percent. Women are the future of politics," said leader of opposition in the assembly Manohar Parrikar, who was promoting the BJP-backed 'Panaji First' panel.

Women's rights activist Sabina Martins said she hoped that the election of more women to the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) would make a difference in the way it manages the affairs of the city's 60,000 population.

"In a lot of unreserved wards, women have contested and won on their own steam. That is a good thing which has happened," said Martins, who is the convenor of Bailancho Saad, a leading women's rights organisation in the state.