‘Had I worked against Sopte, he would have lost’

PANAJI: Dayanand Sopte’s victory in Mandrem has triggered a war of words between the newly-elected BJP legislator and former chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar, who represented the constituency for three terms before his loss in 2017.
Sopte had got over 7,000 lead at the 2017 state assembly elections, but this time his winning margin dropped even though his opponents were not formidable, according to Parsekar.
“The candidates were not strong. (Jit) Arolkar is not even a political leader, yet Sopte has been unable to get an impressive lead. He won only because the opposition votes were divided,” he said.
Parsekar also said Sopte did not get all BJP votes as people were unhappy with him switching sides.
Shortly after his win, Sopte told reporters that Parsekar had worked against him and the party should take action against him, prompting another retort.
“He (Sopte) is not in the right frame of mind. If I had worked against him, he would have lost. I did not work against him. Let him say whatever he wants. I canvassed for other (BJP) candidates. Let him prove that I had even a single meeting against him or conducted any other activity favouring a rival candidate,” said Parsekar.