the goan I network
MARGAO
Cuncolim Municipal Council Chairperson Polita Carneiro was voted out of office in a no-confidence motion, while her deputy Shashank Desai survived the motion in a day when the two motions against the chairperson and vice-chairperson were taken up for discussions in separate meetings on Friday.
After CMC Vice-Chairperson Shashank Desai survived the motion in the morning by 7-5 votes, the writing on the wall was clear for Chairperson Polita as she later tendered her resignation to the Director of Municipal Administration (DMA) around noon. The seven signatories, including Vice-Chairperson Shashank, later met in the evening and passed the no-trust motion against the Chairperson by 7-0 votes. The results of the two no-trust motions have thrown up a new seven-member group of councillors comprising of Vice-Chairperson Shashank Desai, Lavita Mascarenhas, Udesh Gaonkar, Kiran Naik, Ashok Fadte, Videsh Desai and Angela Luis.
The seven-member group will now meet to elect a new chairperson, even as reports indicated that while Shashank will continue to occupy the Vice-Chairperson’s post, ex-chairperson Lavita Mascarenhas is all set to return back on the saddle with the support of this new group.
After surviving the motion, Vice-Chairperson Shashank Desai told the media that he would continue in office with the support of the new seven-member group. He thanked the councillors for defeating the no-trust motion against him and expressed his gratitude to Cuncolim MLA Clafacio Dias for extending support to the new seven-member group and for proposing development works to the tune of Rs 3.80 crore in the Municipal town.
On the other hand, Chairperson Polita told the media soon after Shashank won the no-trust motion that she would tender her resignation to the DMA’s office by 2 pm, saying that she was scheduled to step down after one year in office. “As per the agreement, Councillor Panzy Coutinho and Premdeep Desai were supposed to take over the reigns of office of chairperson and vice-chairperson respectively. However, Shashank Desai did not honour his word and he along with Udesh have gone to the other side,” she said.
The ousted Chairperson admitted that the post of Cuncolim Municipal Council Chairperson has become a “musical chair”, with the chair going to the highest bidder.
In the meantime, ex-CMC chairperson Lavita Mascarenhas has said the new seven-member group has requested her to head the civic body again, a request she said has been accepted by her.
“It has been decided by the seven-member group that the post of CMC chairperson will be rotated amongst three of us, during the remaining term, including myself, Angela Luis and Kiran Naik,” she added.
