PANAJI
Panaji’s civic politics is bracing for a fierce contest as the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) elections, expected in mid-March, with Goa State Election Commissioner Menino D’Souza slated to announce dates and the scheduled on Monday morning.
At the centre of the churn is Utpal Parrikar, son of late Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. His reluctance to sever ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological mentor, the RSS, is emerging as a critical factor that could hobble the Opposition’s charge against Revenue Minister Atanasio “Babush” Monserrate.
Utpal has announced plans to field candidates in all 30 wards and insists he is ready to align with “like-minded people.” Yet his refusal to categorically snap his political umbilical cord with the BJP has raised doubts about his positioning.
In the 2022 assembly polls, Utpal contested Panaji as an Independent against Monserrate on the BJP ticket, losing narrowly but gaining credibility as a challenger. Now, the stakes are higher.
Congress has seized the moment. GPCC President Amit Patkar has demanded that Utpal clarify his ideological stand. “He must outline his position against the BJP,” Patkar said, warning that ambiguity could weaken the anti-Babush front.
Nonetheless, the anti-Monserrate coalition is reportedly taking shape and intense confabulations on seat-sharing and candidate selection are on.
Veteran corporator Surendra Furtado, a rival of Monserrate in CCP politics, Utpal, former councillor Menino Da Cruz, Taleigao aspirant Dattaprasad Naik, and possibly the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are involved in the exercise to field joint candidates across wards, presenting themselves as a counterweight to the BJP-backed Monserrate panel.
On the ruling side, Monserrate is floating his panel with his son and current Mayor Rohit Monserrate as its face.
The father-son duo have stated that candidates for all 30 wards have been finalised and hinted that several sitting councillors will be replaced to inject fresh faces.
The Congress, though facing internal rifts, may eventually throw its weight behind the loose opposition bloc. AAP is weighing options, whether to contest independently or align tacitly with the coalition.
For Panaji’s voters, civic issues such as the recent opposition to expansion of casino operations on the Mandovi river, the St Inez creek neglect, teething problems of several Smart City projects remain central. Yet the elections are widely seen as a proxy battle between Babush Monserrate’s entrenched political machinery and a fragile coalition of independent voices centered around Parrikar Junior.
With panels being stitched together and alliances still fluid, the CCP elections promise to be one of the most closely watched contests, potentially setting the tone for municipal polls across the State slated for later in April-May.
