Congress to decide on Panaji bypoll candidate after Lok Sabha votes are cast

PANAJI: Perplexed over the choice of candidate for the Panaji byelection and with the party machinery engaged in the campaign for the two parliamentary seats and three bypolls, Congress is likely to decide on the Panaji conundrum only after the votes are cast for the Lok Sabha election.
Explaining the reason behind the delay, a Congress functionary said that the party’s decision hinges on Taleigao strongman Atanasio Monserrate’s stance for the May 19 bypoll.The byelection has been necessitated after former chief minister Manohar Parrikar passed away after a spirited battle against pancreatic cancer.
“We welcome the Panaji bypoll dates and we will soon start the process of candidate selection for Panaji,” said chief spokesperson, Congress state unit, Sunil Kawthankar.
Currently, Panaji block president Prasad Amonkar and former Panaji mayors Surendra Furtado and Yatin Parekh are in contention for the Congress ticket.
“The party will seek applications from interested candidates and we will talk to Monserrate,” said a senior Congress official. Monserrate, a former education minister, has announced that he will contest the Panaji bypoll.
In the February 2017 assembly elections, he contested against former BJP MLA Sidharth Kuncalienker and lost by 1,069 votes.
Right now, Monserrate has said that he will contest the bypoll as an independent candidate and in such a scenario, if the Congress does contest the Panaji byelection, it runs the risk of aiding the BJP, political observers say.
“If we want to end the BJP’s vice-like grip over Panaji, we may have to sit out the Panaji bypolls or convince Monserrate to return to the party,” said a Congress block level member.
In March 2015, Congress expelled Monserrate for six years after he supported the BJP in the Panaji byelection, which Kuncalienkar won. Congress tried to make amends in August 2017 when they offered Monserrate the opportunity to contest on the Congress ticket against Parrikar in the Panaji byelection. Monserrate rebuffed Congress and joined Goa Forward Party after declining to take on Parrikar in the bypoll.
This time, Congress does not have the same problem as several Congressmen have expressing their interest. Political watchers attribute this to Parrikar’s absence in the BJP camp.