MAPUSA
Avoiding the ignominy of facing a no-trust motion, Chairperson of Mapusa Municipal Council, Shubanghi Vaigankar resigned from her post by submitting her resignation to the office of the Director of Municipal Administration, Panaji, on Wednesday.
The DMA Gurudas Pilarnkar has acknowledged the receipt of her resignation.
As per rules, the chairperson continues to hold on to her post for seven days after which it is considered that the resignation is accepted. The DMA will then fix a meeting to elect a new chairperson.
Vaigankar said that there was no pressure on her to resign but local MLA Joshua D’Souza had asked her to step down to give another person a chance to be the chairperson.
“I have resigned only after consulting the leaders of the BJP. I will continue to do work in my ward as a councillor. Who knows, I may even bounce back and get re-elected as the chairperson,” Vaigankar told The Goan.
As reported last week in The Goan, a majority of the ruling councillors including the Vice Chairperson Chandrashekar Benkar had met under the leadership of Mapusa MLA Joshua D’Souza to decide on the fate of the incumbent chairperson.
In that meeting held on January 4, it was agreed to move a no-trust motion in the event the chairperson refused to step down on her own. Thirteen councillors had signed the no-trust application.
In the 2021 civic polls, Vaigankar was elected as a councillor from the Congress-backed group but soon switched sides and joined the ruling BJP panel for which she was rewarded with the post of council chairperson.
After running the affairs of the civic body for almost 19 months she has stepped down making way for a new person to take over the top post.
The last six months of her tenure was rather acrimonious as she refused to step down in spite of several requests.
The chairperson’s post is reserved for women in the Mapusa Municipal Council.
