Gilbert Mendonca

Gilbert John Mendonca (born 9 October 1952)[1] is an Indian politician from the state of Maharashtra. Mendonca was a one-term member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, being a member of the 12th Assembly and serving in the lower house from 2009 to 2014.[2]

Gilbert Mendonca
Member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
for Mira Bhayandar
In office
2009–2014
Succeeded byNarendra Mehta
Personal details
Born (1952-10-09) 9 October 1952
Bhayandar, Maharashtra, India
Political partyShiv Sena
Other political
affiliations		Nationalist Congress Party

Political life

Gilbert John Mendonca was born in Bhayandar, a suburb of Maharashtra, India.[1] His family belongs to Christian Community and he had a business background.[1] He entered politics in 1978, winning the post of sarpanch of Mira-Bhayandar.[1] He went on to be elected president of Mira-Bhayandar in 1990[1] and was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (MLA) on a Nationalist Congress Party ticket in 2009, representing the Mira Bhayandar (Vidhan Sabha constituency). Mendonca ran in the election against Narendra Mehta of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Chandrakant Vaita of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena party. Of the 147,584 votes cast, Mendonca received 62,013, Mehta received 51,407, and Vaiti received 27,220 votes. Mendonca's margin of victory was 10,606 votes.[3][4] Mendonca's candidacy was aided by the residents of Uttan, who protested against the relocation of a dumping ground to their town by refusing to allow any candidate to campaign there except Mendonca, who considered Uttan his "stronghold".[3]

Mendonca was the first member of the MLA elected from Mira-Bhayandar.[1] In 2011 he was credited with starting a drive to start local trains from the Mira Road railway station.[5]

In the 2014 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election, he lost to Mehta by about 30,000 votes.[4][2]

Arrest

In July 2016, Mendonca was arrested for allegedly participating in a land grabbing case.[6] The land was said to be worth hundreds of crores and a case of alleged cheating and land-grabbing was registered against him and four others.[7] Mendonca spent nine months in jail and was released on bail in May 2017.[8]

Disgruntled with the Nationalist Congress Party, he joined the Shiv Sena and was the face of the Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation elections in 2017.[8]

Personal life

Mendonca was married to Myra Mendonca (d. 2014), who was the first mayor of the Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation.[9] The couple had two children: a son, Venture Mendonca, who is a Municipal Corporator in Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation,[10] and a daughter, Caitlin Pereira, who served as mayor of Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation from 2012 to 2017.[11]

References
  1. "Biography". gilbertmendonca.com. 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  2. "Sitting and previous MLAs from Mira Bhayandar Assembly Constituency". elections.in. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  3. Atalye, Sudhaanshu (23 October 2009). "Mendonca wins Mira-Bhayandar". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  4. "Maharashtra Assembly Election Results (constituency Wise)". elections.traceall.in. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  5. "Local MLA Gilbert Mendonca has undertaken a signature campaign to start local trains' from Mira Road railway station". The Times of India. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  6. "Former MLA Gilbert Mendonca sent to police custody in land-grabbing case". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  7. "Former MLA Gilbert Mendonca arrested in land-grabbing case". business-standard.com. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  8. "Mira Bhayander civic polls: Shiv Sena pins hopes on tainted former NCP MLA". The Indian Express. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  9. "Myra Mendonca (61), the first mayor of the Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC) passed away at her Bhayander home". The Times of India. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  10. "Corporator and son of Bhayander MLA Gilbert Mendonca, Venture arrested and released on bail in connection with a case registered by the BJP with Mira Road police". The Times of India. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  11. "NCP's Caitlin Pereira elected Mira-Bhayandar mayor". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
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