Utpal Parrikar, son of late former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, quit the BJP while announcing to contest from the seat as an independent candidate. After resigning from the party, Utpal claimed that he tried to convince the BJP leadership that he enjoys the support of the local party leaders as well as of the public. However, he was not given a ticket.
While speaking to the media Utpal Parrikar said, “I have resigned from the party and I would be contesting as an independent from Panaji. It is a difficult choice for me; I am doing it for the people of Goa. No one should be worried about my political future; the people of Goa will do it. The BJP had offered him other options constituencies other than Panaji, Parrikar said. I am fighting for the values which I believe in.”
He also said that resignation was a formality but the BJP will always remain in my heart. On the other hand BJP’s Goa in-charge Devendra Fadnavis had said while releasing its first list of candidates that the party offered some other seats to Utpal, but he was not willing to contest from any of them. Taking the situation to its advantage Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said his party, which had formed a tie-up with the NCP for Goa elections, would support Parrikar if he promised not to back the BJP post-elections.
Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had slammed the BJP for adopting the ”use and throw” policy regarding the Parrikar family and invited Utpal to join his party.
The Shiv Sena MP, however, set a condition to back Utpal. Raut said that the Sena-NCP alliance will back Utpal Parrikar if he promises not to support the BJP after election results are announced. Before Utpal’s resignation, Raut had said that his party will back him if he contests from the Panaji seat as an independent candidate.
Utpal resigned from the Goa BJP yesterday after the party denied him a ticket from the Panaji seat. While the BJP had claimed to offer him two other alternatives, Utpal was firm on contesting from the seat which his father represented for 25 years. The BJP has fielded sitting MLA Atanasio Monserrate ‘Babush’ from the seat. Babush is one of those legislators who had defected from Congress to join the BJP.
