Panaji: Former revenue minister and three-time Taleigao MLA, Jennifer Monserrate, died on Sunday after a prolonged illness. She was 56. She and her husband Atanasio were the first couple to be elected to the Goa legislative assembly in 2012. Her mortal remains will be taken to Taleigao church for funeral Mass at 3.30pm on Monday, followed by cremation at the Hindu crematorium, St Inez, at 5pm.Earlier, her’s remains will be kept at her residence in Taleigao from 9am to 3.30pm for the public to pay their last respects. Jennifer’s last wish was that her final rites be performed at the Hindu crematorium.State govt has declared two-day state mourning. During this period, the national flag will be flown at half mast throughout the state on all the buildings where it is flown regularly, and there will be no official entertainment.Jennifer, who was raised in Mumbai, was admitted to a private hospital in Dona Paula on Thursday, where she breathed her last while undergoing treatment.Jennifer made her entry into politics by contesting the zilla panchayat elections. On winning, she was appointed head of the North Goa zilla panchayat. Some years later, she resigned from the post and contested the village panchayat elections, where she was elected unopposed as sarpanch of Taleigao.Jennifer won the first assembly election in 2012 from Taleigao constituency on a Congress ticket. In July 2019, she along with other Congress MLAs joined BJP, and she was made revenue minister in govt headed by chief minister Pramod Sawant.She is survived by her Atanasio, the current revenue minister and Panaji MLA and two sons, Panaji mayor Rohit, and Amit. Within minutes of the news of her death, BJP MLAs and party functionaries rushed to the hospital.Jennifer’s first foray into the assembly elections was in 2007, when she contested on a UGDP ticket from Santa Cruz and lost to Congress’ Victoria Fernandes.“Deeply pained by the sad demise of Jennifer Monserrate ji, MLA of Taleigao and former cabinet minister. As the first woman MLA of Taleigao and a three-term legislator, she served the people of her constituency and Goa with dedication and compassion. My heartfelt condolences to the family, and her countless well-wishers in this hour of grief. May her soul rest in eternal peace,” said Sawant.Sawant, who visited the Monserrate residence at Taleigao, said that Jennifer had done a lot of good for the state when she was a minister.
