All eyes on MMC chairperson as his term in office comes to an end

THE GOAN NETWORK | AUGUST 19, 2022, 12:46 AM IST
All eyes on MMC chairperson as his term in office comes to an end

MARGAO
With just 10 days to go for his 15-month tenure to end on August 28, questions are doing the rounds in the corridors of the Margao Municipal Council and outside – when will Chairperson Lyndon Pereira step down to pave way for his successor to assume office.

His detractors in the civic body have been anticipating that Lyndon would step down from office on August 19 so that a vacancy is created in the civic body by August 28 after the seven-day notice period.

To the surprise of friends and foes, the MMC Chairperson has convened a meeting of the Council on August 22, indicating that the Chairperson isn’t going to put in his papers before Monday.

Given the situation, a group of councillors belonging to the Margao Civic Alliance (MCA) floated by Margao MLA and his Fatorda counterpart Vijai Sardesai have decided to find out a solution over the status of the MMC Chairperson given that the 15-month tenure ends on August 28.

The Fatorda MLA, sources said, has already conveyed to his Margao counterpart that he would stick to the word given to the councillors that Lyndon would step down from office after completing 15 months in office. Though Kamat was believed to have told Sardesai that the MMC leadership issue could be discussed after the Ganesh Chathurti festivities, sources said the Fatorda MLA has made it amply clear that he would make the Chairperson quit office as per the understanding that Lyndon would remain in the chair before stepping down from office.

A section of the councillors aligned to the Margao Civic Alliance (MCA) are believed to have insisted that the two MLAs get the Chairperson step down from office as per the understanding entered into by the two leaders after the April 2021 civic polls when the MCA had stormed to power with 17 seats in the 25-member civic body.

As per the understanding between the two MLAs, the Goa Forward backed Lyndon will preside over the post of MMC Chairperson for a period of 15 months, before a candidate proposed by the Margao MLA will assume office.

A MCA-backed councillor informed that the Fatorda MLA should stick to the understanding, irrespective of whether his Margao counterpart finds a consensus candidate for the post or not. 

“Even as all eyes are focused on the Digambar-Vijai duo how they would go about zeroing in on Lyndon’s successor, the BJP, which has suddenly emerged as the single largest group in the civic body with nine seats, is not ruling out the question of the group assuming power. The BJP, however, is in need of support of four members to form a simple majority in the civic body.

On the other hand, a third force seems to be emerging in the civic body under the leadership of former Chairperson Ganashyam Shirodkar. Questions, however, have been raised in the corridors of the civic body how Ganashyam will reach the magic figure of 13 members to return back to the saddle.

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