Opposition sent to Shiroda while
Dy sarpanch elected at Bethora
THE GOAN NETWORK
PONDA
Bethora-Nirankal Panchayat on Tuesday elected a new deputy sarpanch Durgaprasad Vaidya, but the election was not without controversy as the Block Development Officer (BDO) had issued a notice asking the panchas to be present in the wrong panchayat.
Instead of asking the panchayat members to report at the Bethora-Nirankal Panchayat, the BDO asked them to be present at the Shiroda panchayat.
Acting on the notice, the rival group of panchas went to Shiroda and were thus declared to be absent from the Bethora-Nirankal Panchayat.
Sadguru Madkaikar from BDO conducted the election process. As the four-member group did not remain present and only one nomination of Vaidya was received for the post, he was announced elected unopposed as deputy sarpanch.
However, the four-member opposition group has demanded that the BDO conduct fresh election as the notice sent to them mentioned that panchas should remain present in Shiroda Panchayat. Speaking to The Goan, Prasad Prabhugaonkar said their members went to Shiroda as mentioned in the notice and they couldn’t remain present for the meeting which was actually convened in Bethora Nirankal Panchayat.
“If mistake is from the BDO, then it should correct it and hold fresh election,” Prabhugaonkar said.
When contacted, BDO Prasiddh Naik stated that the correction had been intimated to the panchayat secretary orally and on Tuesday morning itself.
“It was, therefore, the duty of the panchayat secretary to have intimated the panchayat members,” said Naik.
Asked to comment on demands for a fresh election, Naik replied, “I have no authority to conduct fresh elections. The aggrieved panchas should challenge the decision before the Director of Panchayats, who will then take a decision in the matter.”
It may be recalled that on November 3, Sadanand Gaonkar was voted out of office in a no-confidence motion moved against him by 5-4 votes.
Sarpanch Punam Samant along with Chandrakant Samant, Durgaprasad Vaidya, Rajendra Naik and Jyoti Gawade had moved the no-confidence motion against Gaonkar after accusing him of not cooperating in panchayat affairs.
However, it was evident that politics had divided the local body over the issue of ‘Makadmare’ clan.
Sadanand Gaonkar along with Panchas Prasad Prabhugaonkar, Manda Gawade and Premanand Shetkar had supported the villagers in gram sabha on October 23, demanding the discussion over confirmation of minutes, but Sarpanch Samant confirmed the minutes and dissolved the adjourned the meet amid noisy scenes.
