PANJIM: With former chief minister and current Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar set to resign as Panjim MLA on November 25, political activity in the city will gain momentum. But with candidates yet to be declared, it is difficult to actually predict which way this election will go.
The big players in the race to represent Panjim Assembly Constituency in the Legislative Assembly are, St Cruz MLA Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate, who has declared that he will resign from the Congress and contest as an independent; Panjim Mayor Surendra Furtado, who is aspiring for the Congress ticket, former Mayor Vaidehi Naik, hotelier Gaurish Dhond, CM’s man Siddharth Kuncolienakar and gynecologist Dr Govind Kamat (all BJP aspirants).
There is speculation that state advocate general Atmaram Nadkarni – said to be very close to the former chief minister – could be the BJP nominee for the prestigious seat.
For the Congress, there are two aspirants – Furtado, and longtime Congress loyalist and state general secretary Arthur Sequeira. Sequeira’s candidature has been supported by fellow party office bearers, including general secretary Savio de Souza.
However, there are indications that Furtado is the frontrunner for the Congress ticket given that he has a strong hold over two Miramar wards represented by him and his wife in the CCP, as well as parts of St Tome and areas around the church.
For the BJP their trump card would be Parrikar as most of the aspirants have neither the personality nor the hold on the grass roots that Parrikar has.
A majority of the BJP vote – especially the Hindu Saraswat vote which is around 3000 – will go by what their Bhai says. A section of the upper class Christian vote, especially in Altinho, that has been voting for Parrikar cannot be tagged as a BJP vote. If the candidate is not of their choice, they are more likely to sit at home.
Monserrate has made winning elections almost an art. He uses a mix of pressure and inducements to ensure that he gets the required number of votes. Added to that is his reputation for getting things done. However, nobody can actually predict what will happen this time around.
All the candidates have started working like meeting with supporters. However, as of now the fight is among the aspirants and the electioneering has still not started as elections could possibly be clubbed with the Delhi Assembly elections sometime in February.
