CANACONA
With the term of all seven panchayats in Canacona taluka coming to an end on June 19, only two of them achieved stability for the full five-year term.Khola and Khotigao Panchayats had only one sarpanch throughout the tenure although in Khotigao, the sarpanch Daya Gaonkar had resigned in April, but no new sarpanch was elected to succeed him.
At Khola, where the post of sarpanch is reserved for woman, Poorna Srinivas Nayak was the lone sarpanch to complete a full five-year term.
Agonda witnessed five different sarpanchas taking charge of the panchayat.
Barsat Naikgaunkar was first elected to the post but unseated within 6 months and Pramod Phaldessai became sarpanch. A year later, Pramod Phaldessai was ousted and Abel Borges became the sarpanch but only for about 3 months, before Pramod Phaldessai returned to the post.
Phaldessai was ousted yet again and Badal Naikgaunkar (elder brother of ex-sarpanch Barsat Naikgaunkar) was elected the last sarpanch of the current tenure.
The situation was quite similar at Shrishthal, where an experienced Devendra Naik was installed as sarpanch soon after elections, only to be ousted in a no-confidence motion and he was replaced by Ganesh Gaonkar.
Following an agreement, Gaonkar later resigned in favour of Datta (Pandurang) Gaonkar, who served his mutually agreed term and then handed over the post to sarpanch Ramu Naik.
In Gaondongrim, Suman Gaonkar was elected sarpanch as the post was reserved for woman but submitted her resignation after getting selected for a government job. Since December 2021, Anjali Velip has been the sarpanch.
Poinguinim panchayat witnessed several changes during its five-year term.
Ramdas Pujari became the first sarpanch, only to be ousted a short while later by a group led by panch Pravir Bhandari. Later amid infighting, Marlim-Tirval Panch Jagdish Gaonkar became the sarpanch until he was ousted in April.
However, the installation of new sarpanch fizzled out as Directorate of Panchayats did not issue any notification for the election of a new sarpanch. Some panchas alleged that politics was at play to deny a new sarpanch in the village.
Like Agonda, Loliem-Polem panchayat also witnessed five changes during its five-year term.
Ajay alias Ajit Lolienkar was the first to serve as sarpanch, but he resigned to make way for Shailesh Pagi who, in turn, vacated the seat and handed over the post to Sachin Naik.
Naik then handed over the post to Nishant Prabhudessai and though Prabhudessai was supposed to continue till the end of the term, he resigned shortly after and Sachin Naik returned as sarpanch for his second term.
