By Marcellus D’Souza
Apr 14: The sons of Revenue Minister Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate and Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik have been appointed Chair persons of Panjim and Ponda municipal bodies.
Rohit Monserrate was made City Father of Corporation of City of Panaji (CCP) and Ritesh Naik became chairperson of Ponda Municipal Council.
Monserrate, has controlled Panaji since its first election, last year when Rohit was installed as Mayor. At 33, he is the city’s youngest mayor, with no formal administrative experience and his only qualification is that both his parents Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate and Jennifer Monserrate are MLAs.
People of Panjim are “unhappy” with Rohit Monserrate as Mayor of the capital city.
Ritesh Naik was appointed within a fortnight of his father becoming a Minister in the Pramod Sawant government. Ritesh, was defeated two years ago, was elected chairperson unopposed for the remainder of the 14 months of the current term.
Ritesh is the sixth chairperson of the current term.
There was no contest from the MGP-backed group, which is attributed to the induction of Sudin Dhavalikar induction in the Pramod Sawant-led cabinet.
Meanwhile, North Goa Zilla Panchayat (ZP) Adhyaksh Karthik Kudnekar was asked to resign reportedly to pave the way for Siddhesh Naik, son of Union Minister Shripad Naik, to take over.