PANJIM: The Congress party has not lost hope of a straight fight in Panjim that will involve just its candidate and that of the BJP as both parties gird up for the final dash to be first past the post.
Even as the BJP has already started its election campaign, and the Congress is likely to finalize its candidate within the next couple of days – likely to be Friday – the third candidate in the race, St Cruz Congress MLA Atanasio Babush Monserrate, appears to be unusually quiet after his initial bluster and noise.
Congress circles are optimistic that Monserrate could have second thoughts on contesting. The party leadership is non-committal, but there is a quiet optimism that Monserrate is likely to reconsider his decision to quit the party and contest as an independent.
What is giving Congress this upbeat feeling is that Monserrate, who had earlier indicated that he would officially kick off his campaign on December 8 (Panjim feast day), has not done so even 10 days after that date. This has given rise to speculation that Monserrate may have a surprise up his sleeve, this time one that could help Congress in its campaign for Panjim.
Congress sources confirm that Monserrate did meet AICC General Secretary Digvijaya Singh during the latter’s visit to the state and that the party is leaving no stone unturned to see if they can convince the St Cruz MLA not to quit the party and the assembly.
Efforts to contact Monserrate proved fruitless as he refused to answer his phone throughout Thursday. A straight fight between likely Congress candidate Panjim Mayor Surendra Furtado and BJP’s Sidharth Cuncolienkar will turn interesting as it could swing either way.
