Cuncolim dy chairperson voted out

Quepem: Vice-chairperson of the Cuncolim Municipal Council, Sashank Dessai, was voted out following a no-trust vote held on Friday.

All six councillors of the ruling faction and a member from the opposition voted in favour of the motion against him. The other five opposition councillors, including Dessai, remained absent.

The vice-chairperson was voted out by chairperson Lavita Mascarenhas, Angela Luis Painginkar, Virendra Dessai, Kiran Naik, Videsh Gaonkar, Ashok Fadte and opposition councillor Mario Moraes. Sashank, along with Polita Carneiro, Soccorina Coutinho, Penzy Coutinho and Premdeep Dessai, remained absent, despite former MLA Joaquim Alemao’s efforts to get the councillors to vote in favour of the vice-chairperson.

Although Sashank was earlier part of the seven-member ruling group, a no-confidence motion was moved against him following his outburst against incumbent MLA, Clafacio Dias.

Sources told TOI Videsh Gaonkar was the first choice for the vice-chairperson’s post among the ruling group, but with the opposition having an equal strength, Moraes’s vote was crucial in deciding the issue.