Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal missing from BJP's candidate list for Goa polls; talks on for another seat, says party

Former chief minister Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal Parrikar missed out on  from the BJP's list of candidates for the Goa Assembly elections.

Parrikar, the three-time chief minister and BJP's top leader of Goa,  passed away in 2019. He held the Panaji constituency seat for five terms.

Utpal, who also joined BJP, was expecting to contest elections from his father's constituency. According to sources, Utpal may contest the Goa Assembly elections as an Independent candidate.

Utpal had recently questioned the BJP’s ticket distribution process in the coastal state after the leadership indicated that the party ticket for the Panaji constituency would be given to Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate.

In the byelection after Manohar Parrikar's death, Babush Monserrate won as a Congress candidate but later, he switched to the BJP.

“Will the party give a ticket to the person with criminal antecedents in the constituency represented by late Manohar Parrikar?" he asked in an  apparentl reference to Monserratte.

Devendra Fadnavis,  ex-Maharashtra chief minister and BJP's Goa in-charge for the Assembly Elections, speaking about Monserrate's candidature from Panjim had said that "Utpal Parrikar and his family are our family".

"We gave two more options to him but he rejected the first one and second option is being discussed with him. We feel that he should agree," said Fadnavis suggested that Utpal is not out of the race just yet, as per Times Now.

While announcing the candidates, Fadnavis emphasised that the BJP ushered in a new era of development in Goa in the last 10 years while also ensuring stability.

Utpal, an engineering graduate, has been pushing for Panaji for months. He has been meeting people and has also visited temples over the past few months, while declaring that he is ready to fight polls, reports NDTV.

Interestingly Utpal found support from Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena. Raut has said that all non-BJP parties should come together to support Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal Parrikar if he contests next month's Goa election.

Upon hearing the news, even Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal offered him a chance to join the Aam Aadmi Party.

Goans feel v sad that BJP has adopted use and throw policy even with Parrikar family. I have always respected Manohar Parrikar ji. Utpal ji is welcome to join and fight elections on AAP ticket. https://t.co/MBY8tMkPP7

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 20, 2022

As per News18, reacting to Utpal’s omission, the BJP said Utpal had been given two options. “One has been rejected by him and talks are still on for another seat."

Goa is slated to head to the polls on 14 February.  The political contest in Goa has become multi-cornered with the entry of the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) apart from the traditional contestants like the BJP, Congress, MGP and GFP.

In the 2017 Assembly polls for the 40-member Goa Assembly, AAP had drawn a blank. In the previous polls, the Congress had emerged as the single-largest party in Goa as it won 17 seats in the 40-member House. However, it failed to form the government after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which bagged 13, allied with some independents and regional parties to form the government under Parrikar who passed away in 2019.

With inputs from agencies

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