india

Updated: Apr 24, 2019 18:48 IST

The Congress on Wednesday named former minister Atanasio Monserrate as its candidate for the bypoll for the Goa assembly’s Panaji constituency which fell vacant following the death of chief minister Manohar Parrikar last month.

“Congress president Rahul Gandhi has approved the candidature of Atanasio Monserrate as Congress president for the May 19 bypoll to the legislative assembly of Goa - Panaji constituency,” All India Congress Committee general secretary Mukul Wasnik said in a statement. The Congress is seeking to wrest the seat from the BJP after a gap of 26 years.

Monserratte, who was vice president of the Goa Forward Party (GFP), an ally of the ruling BJP, had resigned last week and joined Congress.

The BJP, which is facing a fight to retain the seat which Parrikar had represented since he was first elected in 1994, is yet to finalise its candidate.

“We are discussing with all stakeholders including (municipal) councillors, senior party workers and will announce the candidate in a couple of days,” state BJP president Vinay Tendulkar said.

The BJP has indicated that it is likely to field Parrikar’s son Utpal Parrikar to take forward the legacy of his father but has dithered on finalising the name saying they would first focus on voting for the Lok Sabha elections.

Manohar Parrikar was a formidable presence in the constituency even when he was Union Defence Minister he continued to oversee the affairs of the constituency.

Monserrate is a political heavyweight with influence in Taleigao and Santa Cruz, two constituencies on the outskirts of the state capital from where his wife Jennifer and his friend Tony Fernandes had won the 2017 assembly elections.

But Monserrate himself had unsuccessfully contested the 2017 assembly elections in Panaji constituency, losing to the BJP’s Siddharth Kuncaliencar by a little above one thousand votes.

While on the surface they were fierce political rivals, Parrikar and Monserrate had a curious relationship with the duo never directly going head-to-head against each other. At the bye-election held after Parrikar resigned as Defence Minister to become Goa CM, Monserrate declined to contest.

“That was not the right time. That election was basically held to help Parrikar become the Chief Minister,” Monserrate offered as explanation when asked why he did not contest.

Similarly, when he was arrested on charges of raping of a young employee, Monserrate blamed political adversaries for the ‘fabricated’ charges but stopped short of naming Parrikar who was then the CM. He was chargesheeted by Goa Police in 2018 in connection with the alleged rape in 2016.

“To say he’s a pushover would be denying the reality. But Atanasio Monserrate, who the Congress has nominated, will be hard-pressed to convince the highly literate and politically independent middle and upper middle class of Panjim his anti-Parrikar and anti-BJP credentials. If Utpal is the BJP candidate, it will be a tough ask for Monserrate with AAP Valmiki Naik also certain to be on the EVM’s roster,” journalist and political analyst Ashley do Rosário said.