the goan I network
MARGAO
After an over fortnight-long leave on medical grounds, Margao Municipal Council Chairperson Babita Prabhudesai will finally resume duties on Monday, but the moot questions remained unanswered -- when will the Chairperson step down from office and who will succeed her?
These questions are expected to do the rounds in the corridors of the civic body with just a fortnight to go for Gandhi Jayanti since Babita had said she would step down from office to facilitate a new Chairperson.
At the height of speculations that a group of MMC city fathers are bracing up to move a no-confidence motion against her, Babita had issued a statement late last month, virtually giving an undertaking to resign from the post to facilitate a smooth transition for a new Chairperson to take over on October 2.
In the statement, she had made it clear that she does not intend to cling to power and continue as Chairperson if a majority of the councillors do not wish so. However, she had announced that before putting in her papers, she would rejoin duties after her recuperation period, and consult those who had given her the opportunity to serve the city as Chairperson.
Sources in the know informed that the Goa Forward Party, which had backed Babita to head the MMC for close to four years, is believed to have zeroed in on first-time councillor Pooja Naik as her successor.
However, in the 25-member MMC, the Goa Forward now enjoys the support of 11 members, with one councillor moving away from the party. The party now requires the backing of two councillors to get its candidate elected as the new Chairperson.
Whether the Goa Forward will seek the support of the Leader of the Opposition Digambar Kamat-led group in the council for the election of the new Chairperson remains to be seen, more so when reports indicates that a councillor or two in the Kamat-backed group may also question why the post of the Chairperson should again go to the Goa Forward.
Sources informed that the leadership issue in the civic body is expected to be discussed between the Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai and Margao MLA Digambar Kamat after the Goa Forward Chief returns home after the foreign tour.
Babita had taken over as the Margao Municipal Council chief around three years and nine months ago in November 2015 after the Fatorda Forward, a panel floated by Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai swept the municipal polls by winning all 11 seats at stake in the Fatorda area of the
civic body.
