PANAJI
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is staring at its first major internal connundrum in the face of a simmering turf war in St Cruz after Revenue Minister Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate moved to reopen his political office in the constituency, unsettling local MLA Rudolf Fernandes.
Fernandes, who won St Cruz on a Congress ticket in 2022 before defecting to the BJP six months later, has bristled at the development and voiced concern over “two BJP offices” operating in the same constituency.
Monserrate, however, insists the premises are his personal office, meant to serve people of Tiswadi.
“There is no conflict. I am doing what is good for the party,” Monserrate had said following Fernandes' objections and insisted he did not need permission from anyone to open a 'personal' office anywhere.
Monserrate's move to open an office came weeks after he cryptically declared that “Santa Cruz will rewrite history” and elect a BJP MLA in 2027 -- a seat the saffron party has never won.
His unmistakable signals have set political circles abuzz, reviving speculation about his ambitions and influence in the taluka.
It would however, not be out of place to recall that a claim he made on similar lines that BJP would win all five assembly seats of Tiswadi in 2022, proved false and only he in Panaji and his late wife Jennifer in Taleigao, managed to win then while two of the balance three seats were won by the Congress and one by Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP).
The Monserrate family has long dominated Taleigao, represented continuously by Babush or his late wife Jennifer since 2002. Babush had also captured St Cruz once, in 2012, on a Congress ticket, after ending unsuccessful to wrest it when Jennifer lost in 2007 on a UGDP ticket.
This footprint across constituencies has kept the family at the centre of Goa’s political churn.
Fernandes, meanwhile, remains a relative newcomer to the BJP fold. His defection in 2022 was part of the eight‑MLA switch that bolstered the ruling party’s numbers. But his hold on St Cruz is now seemingly being tested by Monserrate’s re‑entry into the constituency’s political landscape.
For the BJP leadership, the clash is delicate and balancing Fernandes’ position as sitting MLA with Monserrate’s heft as cabinet minister and seasoned operator, could be challenging as the battle in 2027 draws nearer.
BJP State president, Damodar (Damu) Naik, has publicly taken cognisance of the sparring and has claimed that the differences between Monserrate and Fernandes will be resolved by dialogue.
Whether the office is framed as outreach or groundwork for 2027, Monserrate’s move has indeed cracked open fault lines in the ruling dispensation, already top-heavy with regional satraps and legislators.
Insiders admit the optics of the Monserrate-Fernandes spat could hurt the saffron party's organisational cohesion and Naik faces the tough task of managing egos and ambitions in St Cruz which has never gone its way but could prove decisive in 2027.
