PANAJI
Rohit Monserrate, who was on Wednesday re-elected unopposed for a fifth consecutive one-year term, will become the first to don the mantle of mayor uninterrupted for a full five-year term of the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP).
Since inception in 2004-05, no other mayor has remained in the seat for a full five year term of the Corporation.
Previous mayors -- Surendra Furtado, Uday Madkaikar, Tony Rodrigues, Vaidehi Naik and Yatin Parekh -- have all had short tenures of one to three years.
There have been mayors or chairpersons of the capital’s civic body who have had five-year tenures though but they were in the saddle before it was elevated as a Corporation, in its avtaar as Panjim Municipal Council such as the late Francisco Branco and Ramesh Silimkhan.
CCP Commissioner Clen Madeira on Wednesday announced the re-election of Monserrate and also that of the deputy mayor, Sanjiv Naik, at a special meeting of the Corporation, since no other nomination other than ones filed by the Monserrate-Naik duo were received for the two posts.
Monserrate, meanwhile, will be heading the team of ruling councillors who owe allegiance to his father and Revenue Minister, Atanasio Monserrate, into the next CCP election due in February-March next year.
Monserrate said, he will put his best foot forward to solve the problems of city residents in the last year.
