PANJIM: As the BJP asks the “to Babush or not to Babush” question, on the impending induction of Babush Monserrate into the Parsekar cabinet, Monserrate, in his first reaction to the buzz around his induction told Herald, “Nobody has spoken to me. I have not heard of it,” but he left no room for imagination about his desire to become a minister, when he said, “I am not an untouchable any more. I am quite close to the BJP now. They have helped and done a lot of my work in Taleigao and St Cruz. I am happy with that.” Asked repeatedly if the BJP leadership has made him an offer, Monserrate, who was earlier dropped from the Manohar Parrikar Government, said, “Absolutely not. No one has even mentioned it.”
Party insiders, however, confirm that, a section led by General Secretary Satish Dhond is pushing for his induction to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Francisco (Mickky) Pacheco. Chief Minister Parsekar is, however, firm against this.
Monserrate, however is upping the ante on this. He is in Delhi and met Defence Minister Parrikar on Thursday evening. A member of the local BJP, considered very close to Mr Parrikar said, “Babush begged Parrikar to get him into the Parsekar cabinet.” BJP state President Vinay Tendulkar, incidentally, confirmed that this meeting took place, albeit with a spin. “He met him to discuss developmental work in his constituency,” Tendulkar said.
Incidentally, both Chief Minister Parsekar and Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza are in Delhi.
Apart from the Chief Minister, who actually looked peeved when asked this question by television reporters, he faces opposition from local BJP leaders as well
Dattaprasad Naik who had contested from Taleigao on the BJP ticket in the last assembly polls of March 2012 said, “Babush has criminal cases against him. He has attacked the Panjim police station in the year 2008, he has toppled BJP government in Goa once, and he is the person who has done lot of wrongs using political influence in Goa.”
