Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Jul 20: The strength of the 40-member Goa Legislative Assembly has come down to 38 following the death of BJP MLA Jennifer Monserrate, reducing the ruling party's tally in the House to 26 ahead of the state elections due next year.

Jennifer Monserrate (56), a three-time MLA from the Taleigao constituency in North Goa district, passed away at a private hospital in Panaji on Sunday after a prolonged illness.

A devout Christian, Monserrate had expressed her wish to be cremated according to Hindu rituals. She will be cremated at St Inez in Panaji on Monday, said Uday Madkaikar, a close family associate and former mayor of the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP).

Monserrate joined the BJP from the Congress in July 2019 and later served as a minister in the Pramod Sawant-led cabinet.

With her demise and the death of Ponda MLA Ravi Naik in October last year, the effective strength of the Goa Assembly has been reduced to 38.

The BJP now has 26 MLAs in the House. However, the ruling alliance continues to enjoy the support of three Independent legislators and two members of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), taking its effective strength to 31.

The Opposition has seven MLAs, comprising three from the Congress, two from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and one each from the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and the Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP).

In April this year, the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court restrained the Election Commission of India (ECI) from conducting a by-election to the Ponda constituency, observing that only a few months remained before the next Assembly elections, which are due before March 2027.

Jennifer Monserrate's husband, Atanasio Monserrate, is a minister in the Pramod Sawant cabinet, while her son, Rohit Monserrate, is the mayor of the Corporation of the City of Panaji.