Utpal’s unnatural alliance aims to stop Babush’s winning run

Panaji: The lone Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) is witnessing a battle of political survival between former chief minister and defence minister Manohar Parrikar’s son, Utpal, with the help of Congress and AAP, and revenue minister and BJP Panaji MLA Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate.

Utpal, who lost the 2022 state assembly election as an independent candidate against Monserrate, has now joined hands with Congress and AAP to defeat Monserrate’s panel in the city corporation elections.

The CCP elections are not fought on party lines, but are always considered direct contests between political parties. Monserrate, whether in Congress, BJP, or any other political party, has always dominated the CCP elections and made his panel victorious.

Utpal is not new to CCP politics. He fielded his panel during the last CCP elections, but failed to make any mark except in a few wards. This time, he joined hands with those political parties against whom his father always fought and brought BJP to this level, where BJP formed govt in Goa since 2012.

Both Monserrate and Utpal are working hard on the ground to win the CCP elections. Monserrate wants to create history by winning in all 30 wards of the CCP, whereas Utpal is trying to stop Monserrate’s winning run in the capital city of Goa.

Overall, the CCP elections seem like regular elections, where not much is talked about at tea stalls or on the streets, but silent voters and intellectuals are brainstorming in their living rooms about the outcome of the CCP polls.

Political observers said that even though there are a sizeable number of educated, professional, and intellectual electorate in Panaji, migrant voters hold the key to the outcome.

Monserrate has his own support base; Utpal still has a soft corner in the hearts of his father’s workers, and even some former hardcore BJP karyakartas, because of which Monserrate had a close fight with him in the 2022 assembly polls and won the seat by less than 1,000 votes.

Electorates in Panaji have different opinions. Some people want a change in Panaji, and one can understand that they are following Utpal’s calls to end the family raj in Panaji, while another section considers the CCP elections to be a tough contest in some seats but does not dispute that Monserrate has an upper hand in Panaji.

The elite class remembers the hardship faced during the smart city work.

Parrikar’s supporters said Utpal’s alliance will have an impact on the voting pattern, but some consider the alliance unholy. The results of the CCP elections will tell whether the alliance worked for Utpal.

The results of the CCP elections will have wider repercussions as Goa will go for assembly elections in 2027. It is important for both Monserrate and Utpal to secure victory in the maximum number of wards to become the first choice of the voters in the assembly elections.

Senior advocate and political observer Cleofato Coutinho said he cannot comprehend how much the BJP-backed Monserrate-led panel will be dented by Utpal’s alliance panel in the CCP elections. “One thing is clear. There is a contest due to a united opposition. Without the opposition panel, Babush would have a clear run over Panaji. Even the CM had to backtrack on the new casino,” he said.

Coutinho said that it is a strange situation for the people to choose between BJP and RSS. “Whatever the result, it is a great beginning for the opposition forces to remain together. That nobody withdrew from the contest is a great start. Looks like the fight is on.”