MARGAO
With Goa Forward Chief Vijai Sardesai insisting on MMC Chairperson Lyndon Pereira stepping down from office on or before August 28, the focus has shifted on the Margao Civic Alliance (MCA) alliance partner, Digambar Kamat.
The seven-time Margao MLA will have to use his political acumen to forge a consensus candidate in his seven member group for the post of Municipal Chairperson, but also keep the BJP, which has set its eyes on the coveted post, at bay.
The equation in the Kamat group reads like this for the moment. Two-time Councillor Damu Shirodkar is likely to stake his claim for the post of Chairperson on the premise that Kamat had assured him and his supporters last year that he would succeed Lyndon Pereira after occupying the post for 15-months.
Against this backdrop, the Margao MLA will have to get all members of the group to support a consensus candidate in view of reports that some members of the group are backing the candidature of Shagun (Dada) Naik for the coveted post.
Kamat will also have to take into account the city-unit of the BJP making a determined bid to come to power in the civic body, with party leaders not ruling out the possibility of the party flag flying atop the Margao Municipal building in the coming days, with the party now enjoying the support of nine Councillors in the civic body.
