Mumbai: Former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal Parrikar, who had rebelled against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to contest from his father’s constituency, looks headed for defeat in Panaji.
According to Election Commission (EC) trends as of 1 pm, Utpal, a debutant contestant, was trailing by a margin of 716 votes. The BJP’s Atanasio Monserrate, the incumbent Panaji MLA, is in the lead. While the EC has yet to call the result, Utpal left the counting venue around 11.30 am.
This year’s Goa assembly poll was the first that the BJP was contesting since Manohar Parrikar’s death in 2019.
Utpal had requested the BJP to field him as the party’s candidate and allow him to stake claim to his father’s legacy.
The party, however, fielded Monserrate, who was among the 10 Congress MLAs to defect to the BJP in 2019 and bolster its strength in the assembly.
Monserrate had won the Panaji seat, which was a BJP bastion for 25 years, in the bypoll after Manohar Parrikar’s death.
Manohar Parrikar’s legacy
The BJP had offered Utpal alternative seats to contest from, but the 38-year-old insisted on contesting from his father’s seat, indirectly earmarking Monseratte as his primary rival.
Around the time when Utpal launched his door-to-door campaign, he released a public statement addressed to residents of Panaji that said, “…today Panaji city finds itself languishing and risks moving towards a dystopian city”.
He cited increases in sanitation charges, unplanned development, unfair parking regulations and Floor Area Ratio (FAR) changes as some of the issues.
He said he has decided to contest as an Independent candidate to take forward “Bhai’s (senior Parrikar) good work and ensure that the city regains the pristine glory it enjoyed during his time”.
(Edited by Saikat Niyogi)
Also read: If Utpal was a BJP worker, he should’ve accepted the alternative seat, says Pramod Sawant