TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The ongoing hostility between St Cruz MLA Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate and Panjim Mayor Surendra Furtado seems to be intractable, with the St Cruz MLA announcing that he will back the BJP candidate at the March 20 mayoral election in what looks to be a complete surrender to the BJP.
Monserrate is the mentor of the ruling Corporation of the City of Panaji panel presently headed by Furtado.
Monserrate, expressing his happiness over Furtado’s defeat in the just concluded Panjim by-election, said he will make sure that Furtado does not return as Mayor either. “I had backed Furtado twice. But he betrayed me…you all know how. I will not support him anymore. I will make sure that this is his last term as Mayor,” Monserrate told Herald.
“I will not field any candidate from my panel. My corporators will support a BJP candidate,” he said labelling Furtado an egoistic person.
Currently the numbers in the 30-member CCP are equally stacked, with Monserrate and BJP panels both having 14 corporators each, while Furtado and his wife Ruth, both independent corporators were earlier the deciding factor on who would rule.
Furtado looks to be isolated with only the backing of his wife since other members, including Deputy Mayor Kabir Makhija, owe their allegiance to Monserrate. He has also had some heated, almost personal arguments with the BJP corporators and his relations with some senior corporators such as Yatin Parekh and Rudresh Chodankar are nothing to write home about.
The BJP too has not had a very cordial relationship with Furtado as he has been taking regular potshots against the former chief minister Manohar Parrikar and contested against their candidate Sidharth Kuncalienkar who won the Panjim by-election.
“We are yet to decide on the matter. We got our new MLA just a day before. We will sit and decide,” BJP leader and former Mayor Vaidehi Naik said.
Asked about whether their panel will seek Furtado’s support to elect their Mayor, she said “not really”.
Soon after the CCP elections in 2012, Furtado and his wife had supported BJP and Vaidehi Naik was elected Mayor. However, the duo then switched their loyalty towards Monserrate and Furtado was elected as Mayor twice – in 2013 and again in 2014.
