TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: With Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar having to quit the membership of the legislative assembly, his Panjim seat, the one that he held for 20 years, is up for grabs. And the claimants to it are many.
Congress MLA Atanasio Babush Monserrate was the first to announce his decision to quit the Congress, resign his St Cruz seat and contest from Panjim as an independent. He will probably have activist lawyer Aires Rodrigues as a challenger. Rodrigues told Herald that he is “going for it” so as to make Panjim a model city – free of casinos, drugs and prostitution.
While Monserrate would be a serious contender, who the two major parties field as their candidates remains to be seen.
Who will replace Parrikar as the BJP candidate is a question that is being discussed across the constituency and even beyond it. Sources said that Siddarth Kunkolienkar, a former aide of Parrikar, is the main contender for the BJP ticket. Kunkolienkar, who will be viewed as Parrikar’s choice for the seat, is all set to begin work once the Parrikar team returns to Goa from Delhi.
While there is no indication who Congress will field in the capital city, Panjim Mayor Surendra Furtado is a strong contender. “I will react once the by-polls are announced,” Furtado told Herald.
Interestingly, Furtado has been backed as Panjim mayor by Monserrate’s panel which controls the corporation and should both contest the assembly the by-poll, it could result in a parting of ways between the two. Furtado said he would react to Monserrate’s candidature once it was totally formalized.
In 2012 Furtado was dropped by the Congress and the party ticket given to another corporator Yatin Parekh who was thrashed by Parrikar. Parekh could show interest again and so too could another corporator Rudresh Chodankar.
This is not the first time Monserrate has set his eyes on Panjim. In 2012 he had sent out feelers through his corporators to assess his prospects in the constituency. However, Panjimites did not give him too much a hearing, and this is perhaps why he then chose to contest from St Cruz Constituency, where he won.
Parrikar has been Panjim’s longest serving MLA defeating a number of opponents notwithstanding which party was governing the state.
