PANAJI
The death of Taleigao MLA and former minister Jennifer Monserrate has dealt another blow to the BJP, making her the second sitting legislator from the ruling party to pass away within a span of ten months.
Jennifer, who had been battling illness for the past several months, passed away on Sunday after undergoing treatment in Goa and Mumbai. She had remained largely away from active politics in recent months due to her deteriorating health.
Her demise comes less than a year after the death of Ponda MLA and Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik, who suffered a sudden cardiac arrest in October 2025. With the passing of Jennifer, the BJP's strength in the 40-member Goa Legislative Assembly has reduced to 26.
Interestingly, both Jennifer Monserrate and Ravi Naik were former Congress leaders who later joined the BJP. Ravi Naik switched to the saffron party in December 2021 ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections, while Jennifer was among the 10 Congress MLAs who merged with the BJP in July 2019.
With the Goa Assembly elections due in early 2027, the Taleigao and Ponda Assembly constituencies are now expected to remain without elected representatives until the next polls. While by-elections were initially proposed following Naik's death, the Bombay High Court at Goa quashed the Election Commission's notification, leaving the seat vacant.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is also yet to fill the cabinet berth that fell vacant after Naik's demise, with the Council of Ministers continuing to function with one vacancy.
The BJP has witnessed the loss of several senior leaders while in power over the past decade. In March 2019, then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar died after a prolonged battle with pancreatic cancer while still holding office. Just a month earlier, Deputy Chief Minister and Mapusa MLA Francis D'Souza had passed away following a prolonged illness.
Soon after the BJP assumed office in 2012, Tourism and Environment Minister Matanhy Saldanha died of a massive heart attack in March that year, only days after taking charge as a minister.
In August 2020, former Speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly and two-time BJP MLA Anant Vishnu Shet also passed away while the party was in power.
