Goa elections: Utpal Parrikar terms quitting BJP the 'most difficult' decision

Following his resignation from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Utpal Parrikar, son of late Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, has now announced to contest next month's Goa elections as independent from Panaji. The former BJP leader has said that quitting the party was the "most difficult" decision. He has also stated that he is ready to withdraw from the poll race if his former party is fielding a "good candidate" from the constituency.

Parrikar, who was denied a ticket by the BJP from Panaji, had earlier said that he was upset by the decision. Parrikar then quit the party on Friday and announced his decision to contest the upcoming polls from the Panaji seat as an independent. He has now said that BJP will remain a part of him and called his quit the most difficult. "It was the most difficult decision. All this while I was hoping that I won't have to take such a decision," Parrikar said.

Parrikar added that he didn’t want to contest as an independent. "I am not happy that I had to take this decision, but some times you have to take tough decisions. But I am ready to withdraw the decision if the party fields a good candidate from Panaji,” he said. Meanwhile, the BJP has nominated its sitting MLA Atanasio Monserrate, from Panaji. Monserrate had joined the party in 2019 after quitting Congress. However, Monserrate is facing criminal charges against him including a case of rape of a minor.

Utpal Parrikar hits out at BJP

Utpal Parrikar also drew a comparison between the party’s denial of ticket to him to when the party made attempts to throw his father out in 1994. "The one who has been witness to the history will understand what I am saying. It was the time when the BJP was trying to establish itself in areas where the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) was prominent," he told PTI.

"Those who have been with the party since then will know what I am saying. That time, Manohar Parrikar could not be thrown out because he enjoyed the support of the people," he said while adding that those involved in plotting against the former CM are holding "high positions" in the party. Furthermore, Parrikar also said that the BJP is "crumbling" in Goa. He also hit out at the BJP for fielding Monserratte's wife, Jeniffer, from the Taleigao Assembly constituency and remembered how his father was strictly against "family raj" in politics.

Utpal Parrikar quits BJP ahead of Goa elections

On Friday, Utpal Parrikar announced that he would be fighting the upcoming Goa Assembly election from the Panaji constituency as an independent candidate. He also quit as a state executive member and as a primary member of the BJP, after being refused the Panaji ticket. Both Shive Sena and AAP had offered to field Parrikar and have vowed to support him if he contests independently.

After the untimely death of his father in 2019, Utpal Parrikar had made public his desire to contest the subsequent by-election in Panaji. However, BJP gave the ticket to Sidharth Kuncalienker, who lost. Later, the winning Congress candidate Atanasio Monseratte switched allegiance to BJP along with 9 other party colleagues just a few months later. With BJP firmly behind Monseratte, Parrikar had threatened to contest as an independent candidate if BJP does not give him a ticket from Panaji. 

(With PTI inputs)

Image: ANI/ Twitter