TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar defended the decision to postpone the Corporation of City of Panaji Mayoral election claiming that “the government was following the law.”
Parrikar told reporters that all these years, the erstwhile government was following wrong practices while holding election to the post of Mayor. The chief minister said that holding election Wednesday would have amounted to violation of the CCP Act, 2002.
He also said that the government had to act as there was a complaint by a citizen pointing out the violation of the Act. “I could not allow the violation, just because it has been a practice all these years,” he added.
“The section in CCP Act 2002 mentions that “the elected councillors of corporation shall at the first meeting of the corporation of the year, elect from amongst themselves, a Mayor or deputy Mayor,” the Chief Minister said quoting from the Act. The meeting scheduled today was the fourth meeting of the year, and not the first one,” he said.
“The Mayor’s post did not have OBC reservation. The CCP election got deferred because of this,” BJP legislator Kiran Kandolkar said welcoming the move by the government.
