PANAJI
After roasting Atanasio alias Babush Monserrate “ a Congress candidate in the 2019 Panaji bypolls “ over his long list of criminal accusations, the BJP on Friday tried to deflect the chequered past of Monserrate, who is one of the leading contenders for the party ticket for the Panaji assembly constituency.
Addressing a press conference in Panaji, Monserrate’s rival in the 2019 bypolls, Sidharth Kuncalienkar, now the ruling party’s official spokesperson, said that the law would take its course and punish the culprits behind the 2008 attack on the Panaji police station. Monserrate is one of the main accused in the sensational case.
Kuncalienkar was questioned by the media over the BJP’s flip-flop on Monserrate from the time he was a Congress candidate for Panaji and now when he is a BJP MLA from Panaji and a leading aspirant for a ticket from the prestigious seat.
“Definitely there will be charges, but that will be as per law,” Kuncalienkar said, when asked to respond to grave accusations levelled against Monserrate by top BJP leaders.
Asked if it was appropriate to give a ticket to a person accused of allegedly orchestrating an attack on a city police station, Kuncalienkar said: “I strongly believe in the law. The Indian law is strong and no one can escape it… Police station attack has to be condemned. Who did it, how did it happen, the law is investigating and I am very certain, the law will catch up with the culprit and punish him”.
Monserrate, his wife Jennifer currently a Revenue Minister in the BJP-led coalition government and former mayors of Panaji Uday Madkaikar and Tony Rodrigues are the main accused in the 2008 Panaji police station attack case.
Last month, the Bombay High Court bench at Goa directed a special court hearing the matter to expedite the hearings in the case.
Kuncalienkar also stressed that Monserrate’s candidature had not been cleared by the BJP’s highest decision-making body vis-a-vis the finalisation of party tickets for the upcoming polls.
“First of all, the BJP has not declared any candidate. Our parliamentary board is a supreme body to evaluate this candidature. Our party had a meeting of the core committee. The names which have been recommended will be sent to the parliamentary board. The parliamentary board will sit on it, decide. In the coming days, we will come to know who is a candidate and who is not”.
