Checkmate: Show of hands will expose rebels, cross-voting
MARGAO
The proposed Ordinance doing away with secret ballots for elections of Municipal chairpersons will certainly give the BJP a clear edge in the crucial election for the battle to control the Margao Municipal Chairperson scheduled mid-next week.
The Ordinance will overnight catapult the saffron party in a position of advantage on two counts; one, it will ensure the party-backed councillors show their hands in support of the candidate, and secondly, more importantly, rule out cross-voting by the councillors.
The BJP group enjoys a clear majority of 15 members in the 25-member civic body, two more than the halfway mark of 13 members. On the other hand, the Goa Forward-backed group is now stranded at just 10 members, still in need of three members, to win the crucial polls.
In the number game, this equation should not have posed any problem for the Lotus to bloom in the Margao Municipal Council after a gap of 17 years. But, against the backdrop of the shock defeat on September 16, when party-backed candidate Damu Shirodkar had lost the election to Goa Forward-backed candidate Ganashyam Shirodkar, the party’s top bosses seemed not to take any more chances.
For, the BJP had lost the polls for the MMC chairperson’s post-election despite a clear majority of 15 members, a situation that had left party leaders embarrassed.
That the very same party-backed 15 councillors later all raised their hands to vote out the Goa Forward-backed Chairperson Ganashyam Shirodkar in a no-trust motion should come as a solace to the BJP leadership.
Once bitten, twice shy, so goes the saying and the party leadership seemed not willing to take any chances anymore with the party-backed councillors, more so when reports do not rule out cross-voting in the next week’s election.
If sources are to be believed, at least five BJP-backed councillors had cross-voted in the September 16 poll for the vacant post of chairperson on different considerations.
“A host of factors contributed to the defeat of the BJP in the September 16 polls. One, there were differences in the group over the choice of candidate. Questions were raised over Kamat having his way in the party just two days after embracing the saffron brigade. Then there were a couple of councillors who had given a word to Ganashyam of their support, much before Kamat had returned to the party,” sources said.
