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UTPAL TAKES ON BABUSH IN PANJIM!
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UTPAL TAKES ON BABUSH IN PANJIM!

Feb 28-Mar 06, 2026, Stray Thoughts February 27, 2026 , by

AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when it was pay- back time for Utpal Parrikar, who was denied a ticket to contest the Legislative Assembly seat in 2022. For a Saturday following the week when the centenary celebrations of the Gasper Dias Tennis Club in Miramar. For a Saturday following the week when on a voice from the distant past. For a Saturday following the week when physiotherapist Ketan Bhatikar joining the Congress party.
AND a few stray thoughts when it was pay- back time for Utpal Parrikar, who was denied a ticket to contest the Legislative Assembly seat in 2022. The BJP, which was brought to power by his late father Manohar Parrikar, then chose to give the ticket for the Panjim constituency to Babush Monserrate.
 Now with the elections to the Corporation of the City of Panjim scheduled for March 13, 2026 Utpal Parrikar has floated his own panel — Ami Panjekar — to take on the Babush Monserrate panel. Though Babush claims his is the official BJP panel, the majority of the candidates are old faithfuls like Caroline Po and Uday Madkaikar who were both former mayors installed by Babush Monserrate. Apparently the fear of Babush is so pervasive, the Utpal panel is finding it difficult to find candidates or even proposers.
So far the Utpal panel has only private nominations for 10 of the 30 wards of the CCP. The campaign is apparently being organized by old Parrikar loyalists like Dattaprasad Naik and Sanchita Rodrigues who was personal assistant to Manohar Parrikar. Control of the CCP is important. Revenue minister Babush Monserrate’s son Rohit is the current mayor. A young ramponkar, John Po, is taking on Rohit Monserrate.
But apparently not even Utpal Parrikar can take on the powerful casino lobby. It may be recalled that Valmiki Naik, the new AAP president, was physically removed by the police, when he went to mayor Rohit Monserrate’s cabin by appointment, to demand the removal of the casinos from the river Mandovi. Though the offshore casinos are given licenses by the River Navigation Department to anchor in the Mandovi, their offices and ticketing centers are under the jurisdiction of the CCP.
Rohit Monserrate keeps insisting that the economy of Panjim cannot survive without the casino revenue. Interestingly, this is a sentiment echoed by TCP minister Vishwajit Rane. The TCP minister claims that Panjim would die without the casinos. The claim is that the casinos offer over 15,000 jobs which however go primarily to migrants. Casinos have boosted hotel occupancy, as any gambler who deposits Rs1 lakh plus is given a free room in one of the starred hotels. The casino employees are primarily from the northeast and Karnataka migrants have also driven up the rental rates in Panjim accommodation. The taxis and the boats ferrying passengers to the offshore casino vessels are also dependent on casinos.
PART of the problem with Panjim which has only a population of 40,000 is that the educated middle class does not come out to vote. This seems to be a pattern even in big corporations like Mumbai where the polling percentage in the recent civic elections was only 40%. Hindus, who mainly comprise migrant Hindus, account for 60% of the population of Panjim. Most of them work as salesmen in shops, waiters in hotels, security guards and maid servants.
Panjim has also a Catholic population of 25% to 30% concentrated in Fontainhas, St Inez and interestingly, Parrikar’s stronghold Mala and Miramar. The Muslims are concentrated largely in segments of Caranzalen and Campal. Babush has been winning repeatedly with the help of the migrant voters. However, the late Manohar Parrikar enjoyed a great deal of support from all communities including the Catholics of Miramar and Campal.
Utpal Parrikar, who is a technocrat with a factory making medical implants in Verna industrial estate, hopes to cash in on his father’s popularity. In his manifesto yet to be released Utpal will focus on civic governance issues and problems like congestion, parking problems, the poor state of the Panjim market and the tourism menace in Fontainhas.
Babush is taking the credit for the smart city projects, something which may backfire because the projects dislocated life in Panjim for over four years. Perhaps one of the few showcases is the promenade stretching by the riverfront of Mandovi from Miramar to Campal. Rohit does not have any base of his own and will rely mainly on mama Jennifer and papa Babush Monserrate.

GASPER DIAS CLUB CENTENARY
AND a few stray thoughts on the centenary celebrations of the Gasper Dias Tennis Club in Miramar. The club which celebrated its centenary in the first week of February was started on land off the Miramar beachside and donated by the Mahmai Kamat family. Apparently, a German lady, who had come to Goa on work for a long period of time, was passionate about tennis and she set up the tennis court. This led to the change of name to the Gasper Dias Tennis Club.
It was a Raiturcar, namely Avinash Poi Raiturcar who started the first major all Goa tennis tournament at the Gaspar Dias Club. The club has now expanded and has 20 rooms for guests, meeting halls, a swimming pool and multiple restaurants. For us the Gaspar Dias will always be associated with Anand Madgavkar who was one of the pillars of the club. Anand, who was part of a deep sea salvage company, used to celebrate his birthday annually by the swimming pool and tennis courtyard of the club. Thought his birthday was actually on December 24, he used to celebrate it on the 23rd, as the he felt obliged to go to the midnight mass with his Catholic wife Celsa on Christmas wife. In fact, both the Madgavkar brothers married Catholic sisters whom they met while studying in Bangalore, now Bengaluru. Anand Madgavkar was one of the most positive people we have known. Anand, was the secretary of the 60th birthday celebration of Rajan Narayan. Even when he was critically ill he continued to send cheerful, positive messages to close friends.

CALL FROM FRANKIT
AND a few stray thoughts on a voice from the distant past. On Tuesday, Feb 24 I was surprised to receive a call from the undisputed emperor of entertainment, Francisco Martins. Francisco Martins started off designing Christmas cribs right from the time he was in school. Frankit, as he is popularly called, graduated to designing and organizing the main King Momo carnaval float. Frankit went on to design the Goa floats for the Republic Day parade in Delhi. Thanks to his creative genius the Goa floats always won the first prize for almost a decade. Frankit went on to choreograph the opening ceremony of the first ASIAD games in India. Frankit tells me that at 78 years he is content to look at the fat albums of photographs of the many national and global and Goan events that he organized. It has been a fully rich life.
And now he has handed over the reins to his son Akash, who has returned from London, and set up the Frangipani restaurant in an old ancestral home in San Pedro in Ribandar, close to where Frankit lives. Akash is also into event management like his father.

KETAN BHATIKAR JOINS CONGRESS
AND a few stray thoughts on physiotherapist Ketan Bhatikar joining the Congress party. Ketan Bhatikar, who unsuccessfully contested the last assembly elections, has now shifted to the Congress. Last time he lost to Ravi Naik on the MGP ticket. Since the MGP is an alliance partner of the BGP, the Davalikars have been in favor of giving the seat to Ravi Naik’s son. The Congress has apparently given Dr Ketan Bhatikar the Ponda seat which fell vacant following the death of Ravi Naik. Dr Ketan Bhatikar is a pioneer in sports physiotherapy and has fought for acceptance of physiotherapists as doctors.

BUDGET FOR GOA
AND a few stray thoughts on the forthcoming budget session of the Goa assembly scheduled to start Monday, March 6, and will last for 14 days upto March 27, 2026. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant who is also the finance minister will present the state budget on March 6. The Goa Forward chief, Vijai Sardesai, has claimed that he had submitted the bill to protect Goa’s land and environment, drafted by Justice Ferdino Rebello, it will be to be moved during the assembly session.
There is not much hope of the bill being even admitted as the BJP has a brute majority of 27 MLAs including 10 Congress defectors. The speaker has assured MLA Vinesh Borkar that he will permit him to move a breach of privilege motion against the police for dragging him down two flights of steps in the TCP office on Saturday, February 21.
Though the chief minister, Pramod Sawant, is claiming that there is a proposal for revoking permissions granted for mega projects in St Andre, there is no guarantee that the government will move a bill for repealing Section 39A of the Town & Country Planning Act. TCP Minister Vishwajit Rane who was called for a midnight meeting at the chief minister’s official residence at Panjim Altinho is refusing to drop Section 39A of the TCP Act, which has arbitrarily permitted huge commercial and residential projects in Goa. Vishwajit Rane himself is reportedly a partner through his company Karapur Agro in a massive real estate project by the Lodhas in the Bicholim taluka.

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