PANJIM: Thursday’s victory in the bypolls of Panjim Assembly constituency has made Atanasio Babush Monserrate the undisputed leader of Panjim and Taleigao with the Assembly seats as well as the local bodies in his kitty.
Babush won the Panjim Assembly seat by a margin of 1758 votes defeating late Manohar Parrikar’s close aide Sidharth Kuncalienker and conquering the bastion held by the BJP for 25 years.
With the win, Babush has also sent out a subtle message that he has expanded his hold in the capital city. The Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) is headed by Uday Madkaikar and the panel backed by Babush.
Uday said, “Babush has commenced work on the first day of him being the MLA and has already directed tasks ahead of the monsoons to be completed on war footings. One is the floor tiling in fish market which has gone slippery and people suffer and second being the roof of the vegetable market has been leaking. He has directed that both be replaced replaced at the earliest.”
Stating that having a leader who is in sync with the needs of the residents and the people of the city, Uday said “We are certain that the city will benefit immensely under his leadership and the CCP will also be able to perform better.”
The Panjim MLA who has held fort in Taleigao since 2002 has also represented Santa Cruz Assembly constituency between 2012 – 2017. He has expanded his support base across the Tiswadi taluka with Santa Cruz MLA Tony Fernandes and St Andre MLA Francis Silveira, considered his close aides, helping Babush in keeping a hold on four out of the five Assembly constituencies, with the exception of Cumbharjua that’s represented by BJP MLA Pandurang Madkaikar.
In the recently held Taleigao Panchayat elections, Babush backed panel made a clean sweep and retained its hold over the local body, reinforcing that he holds a strong grip on the pulse of the Taleigao villagers.
