PANAJI
Corporation of the City of Panaji Mayor Rohit Monserrate is expected to continue holding the post for a third year and filed his nomination for the position on Monday.
Monserrate, who is the son of Revenue Minister Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate and Jennifer Monserrate, the husband-wife duo who represent Panaji and Taleigao constituencies, has remained the mayor since March 2021 following the elections to the capital's civic body.
The mayor and deputy mayor is elected every year.
Meanwhile current Deputy Mayor, Sanjiv Naik, is also set to be re-elected for a second term. In the first year of the CCP's current term, Vasant Agshikar, was the deputy mayor but he was replaced with Naik in March 2022.
The CCP has jurisdiction over both Panaji and Taleigao, excluding the areas that come under the Taleigao panchayat. The Monserrates have a vice-like grip on the twin constituencies and had swept the CCP polls in 2021, with their panel winning 25 of the 30 seats.
Meanwhile at a special meeting of the CCP on Monday, the corporation presented a Rs 1.72 crore overall surplus budget. It envisages a total (capital as well as revenue) receipts of Rs 99.8 crores and a total expenditure of about Rs 98.09 crore.
However, the revised estimates of the current 2022-23 fiscal show the Corporation having fallen short of the revenue targets presented a year ago.
Former mayor, Surendra Furtado, has sought an explanation for the failure to meet the targets.
"Will the mayor, commissioner or taxation officer explain the failure to collect outstanding dues pending for a few years?," Furtado asked.
