MAPUSA
Despite all odds, former Mapusa chairperson Ryan Braganza was elected as the President of the Cunchelim comunidade for the 2025-28 triennium, defeating outgoing President Shivanand (Bappa) Dhavjekar by a margin of four votes.
Another former chairperson, Michael Carrasco was re-elected as the Attorney, while Avdhoot Swar secured the position of Treasurer.
Both Carrasco and Swar belong to the panel backed by local MLA Joshua D’Souza. Carrasco won by a margin of two votes, while Swar secured victory with a difference of three votes.
Braganza claimed that his panel could have won all key positions had the election process been conducted in a free and fair manner.
He pointed out that four shareholders who were his supporters “ Anand Bhaidkar, Shirish Diukar, Raj Khalap, and Yeshwant Gawndalkar “ were unable to participate as they were engaged in devasthan (temple) elections, which coincided with the comunidade polls.
Braganza had earlier appealed to the Administrator of Comunidade North, Pandurang Gad, to reschedule the election due to the clash with the temple elections, but his request was turned down.
He subsequently approached the High Court, which directed the State administration to take an appropriate decision. However, the Administrator upheld his original decision and refused to change the election date.
Braganza also alleged that the Cunchelim comunidade did not provide him with the voter list, further complicating the electoral process.
“Four of my supporters were deprived of their right to vote as they were occupied with temple elections. Had they been present, we would have won by a landslide,” Braganza stated.
“It is obvious that the administrator was under pressure,” he added.
Notably, the Administrator of Comunidade North had rescheduled election dates for other comunidades that faced similar scheduling conflicts, raising concerns about fairness and impartiality in the election process.
