Bicholim
The political cold war between the ruling party and the opposition in the Sankhali Municipal Council (SMC) has now reached the High Court. Dharmesh Sagalani has filed a petition in the High Court seeking the immediate election of a vacant seat of a councillor and appointment of an administrator for some time as the mayor does not have a majority.
The petition was filed by a group of six persons including Dharmesh Sagalani, Jyoti Blagen, Rajesh Sawal, Kunda Madkar, Raya Parsekar and Ansira Khan and will be heard on Monday.
As Damodar Ghadi, a councillor from Ward 9, passed away on November 21, the current strength of the council has both groups of six members each.
Dharmesh Sagalani said that no action has been taken so far as it is mandatory to conduct the election process in Ward 9 immediately.
The group has demanded immediate elections and the appointment of administrators till the completion of the election process.
At present, the number of candidates for the post of deputy CP has been raised by lottery and six people had passed a no-confidence motion against the ruling CP Madkar, but the ruling party did not turn up due to which the motion failed.
Therefore, at present, there is a cold war between BJP and Dharmesh Saglani group in this municipality
Sagalani said that while the legal issues need to be resolved, the Election Commission, the State government, the Chief Minister and other agencies are obliged to pay immediate attention to the vacancies.
Meanwhile, when asked about this, Chief Officer Praveenjay Pandit said, "We have written to the Directorate of Corporations regarding the vacancy in Ward 9, and they will inform the Election Commission. The election process needs to take place in six months. The Election Commission is deciding on this."
