TEAM HERALD
bureau@herald-goa.com
MERCES: The meeting to elect a new committee of Calapor Comunidade on Sunday was called off due to lack of quorum amid claims by some Gaunkars that most of them were not aware of the poll date.
The meeting began at the scheduled time of 10.30 am with only a handful of Gaunkars present. However, the officials adjourned the meeting for another half an hour to give time for the quorum to be formed.
But, even after that only 15 Gaunkars had registered their names and presiding officer Bharat Naik Gaonkar decided to call off the election as the minimum requirement of 25 Gaunkars was not met to form the quorum. Incidentally, the Calapor Comunidade consists of 2,090 Gaunkars.
Speaking to Herald, Gaonkar informed that as per law, a minimum of 25 Gaunkars need to remain present for the quorum to be formed and election to be held. “Since a quorum was not formed, the election is called off,” he added.
Clerk Amar Chodankar informed that a report will be sent to the North Comunidade Administrator for further action.
However, some Gaunkars who arrived after 11 am cried foul by stating that they were unaware of the poll date as proper awareness was not done. A Gaunkar, Marcus Braganza, said he came to know of the poll only this morning and demanded that it be rescheduled so that the Gaunkars get another opportunity to elect a new committee.
Another Gaunkar, Rui Dias, said the Comunidade members should have made a public announcement in the village with the help of loudspeakers so that the Gaunkars were made aware of the election schedule.
“We will now write a letter to the North Comunidade Administrator urging him to reschedule the election,” he added.
