Team Herald
PANJIM: The Panjim constituency has drawn eyeballs and the focus is on persons with criminal antecedents contesting the polls. Of the seven candidates fighting in Panjim BJP candidate Atanasio Monserrate, who jumped from the Congress to BJP in 2019, is the only one with criminal cases against him.
It has got people questioning the giving of tickets to people who have criminal cases against them; even if there have been no convictions.
“Political parties should have taken a firm stand to give party tickets to candidates with a clean reputation. However, we see that this is not the case in these elections where ‘winnability’ is considered as the most important factor, bypassing values and principles. BJP was once considered the party with a difference, but it is no longer so. We see many faces in these elections with tainted background or criminal records or tainted with corruption and it is now up to the public to vote them out, whichever party they might be contesting from,” said Sandeep Heble, Panjim voter and Goa RTI Forum joint secretary.
Monserrate is facing serious charges of rape and attack on the Panjim police station. Both cases are pending trial.
On February 19, 2008, Monserrate, his wife Jennifer – also a candidate on BJP ticket from Taleigao – and others gathered outside the police station to protest the detention of a couple of his supporters. The crowd walked from Taleigao to Panjim. Suddenly stone throwing from the back of the crowd took all by surprise and the crowd charged towards the police station.
In the melee, police including women constables were hurt and the police station suffered severe damage. The police retaliated by a cane-charge and later raided Monserrate’s house. His son, wife and the then Congress MLA himself were arrested.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) charged the 37 accused for the serious offense, trial of which began this week.
In 2016, Monserrate was booked for raping a minor girl. He was arrested and later granted bail. He faces trial in the case as well with the trial court framing the charges in 2019.
Campal resident Armando Gonsalves was more forthcoming. Referring to Monserrate’s 2019 poll promise he said, “If he could not keep his promise of removing casinos in 100 days, he is not fit to be an MLA. Forget about removing the vessels, he could not even remove the casino advertisements; it’s time the people of Panjim throw him out.”
Monserrate’s 15-year political career has seen him flit between the Congress and the BJP, adroitly steering between both, to keep his political and economic enterprises going. Property rates in Taleigao, which he led as MLA until shifting to Panjim, have been among the highest in Goa.
In the 2019 elections, the Election Commission had made it compulsory for all candidates contesting the elections to advertise their criminal antecedents in the media
