Panaji
Taleigao strongman Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate has declared that if he contests, he will contest on the Congress ticket.
Following a meeting between Monserrate and All India Congress Committee secretary in-charge of Goa desk Dr A Chellakumar on Thurday at Monserrate’s residence, sources from the Congress party confirmed that the party top leadership has shown readiness to retract Monserrate’s six-year suspension if he decides to step into the fray at the upcoming by-polls in Panaji against Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. Monserrate, then St Cruz legislator, was suspended from Congress after the 2015 by-polls in Panaji for ‘anti-party’ activities.
Speaking to The Goan, Monserrate stated, “If I contest, I will contest on the Congress ticket. I am in talks with the Congress leaders including Chellakumar. I will announce my decision soon.”
Following this meeting, Monserrate also met 14 Congress MLAs including the Leader of Opposition Chandrakant ‘Babu’ Kavalekar, all of whom have given their stamp of approval for his candidature. However, it has come to light that the Congress Legislative Party is unlikely to offer a united front for the Panaji campaign on the lines of the strategy lined up for Valpoi bypolls.
It was also learnt that the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Luizinho Faleiro and Chellakumar both approached Monserrate on May 9, after the one-day session of the Goa Legislative Party and made him the offer. The round of talks has now concluded in order to allow Monserrate the time to decide whether or not he wishes to contest the seat again following his defeat by a margin of around 900 votes in the recent Assembly polls at the hands of Siddharth Kuncalienkar.
Highly placed sources further disclosed that Monserrate has assured the Congress that if he contests, he will play to win and that his victory would spell the downfall of the present coalition government within a month’s time.
Meanwhile, excitement is now building up within the Panaji Congress block over the imminent re-entry of Monserrate into the party and his candidature in Panaji.
The 32-member block has made up its mind to stand firmly behind Babush, if he decides to contest the Panaji bypolls, whether or not the party supports him. “If Babush is denied both, the ticket as well as party backing, the Congress Panaji block will quit en masse and work for him. But we are also ready to support Surendra Furtado if he is given the ticket. That said, Babush is the man with the winnability factor,” a member of the block stated on conditions of anonymity.
The support for Furtado stems from the efforts he put in rebuilding the party organization from the grassroot during the 2015 bypolls, when he was the Congress candidate.
Another member of the Panaji Congress block opined that there are no other potential candidates, despite the lofty claims made by the party leadership. “There are many potential candidates. But none have been groomed for such a pressure test,” he expressed.
Interestingly, a few block members continue to be apprehensive over Monserrate’s plans to contest on the backdrop of the appointment of his wife, Taleigao MLA Jennifer Monserrate’s appointment as a member of the North Goa Planning and Development Authority.
