Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal resigns from BJP, to contest as independent

Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal Parrikar on Friday announced that he is resigning from the BJP and will be contesting in the upcoming Goa assembly election as an Independent candidate.

This development comes after days of bargaining and lobbying for the Panaji constituency, which was represented by former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar until 2019, the seat that his son has been eying on, but the BJP denied him in favour of the sitting MLA.

Earlier in the day, Utpal said he would announce his decision in a press conference amid speculations of his contesting without any party from Panaji. Till last moment, the BJP continued claiming that talks were on with Utpal and he has been offered some alternative assembly seats.

“I was left with no other choice. I have resigned from the party and I would be contesting as an independent from Panaji,” Utpal Parrikar said adding that BJP will always remain in his heart. “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, people of Goa will do it,” he said

“I am fighting for the values which I believe in. Let the people of Panaji decide. I cannot negotiate with my party,” he added.

On Thursday, the BJP released its first list of 34 candidates for Goa and fielded incumbent MLA Atanasio Monserrate from Panaji. Devendra Fadnavis said it is not fair to replace the sitting MLA, who won the bypoll after Manohar Parrikar’s death in 2019. The seat was with Parrikar for almost 25 years.

“For our party, the Parrikar family is always our family. But from the seat that Utpal wanted to contest from we already have a sitting MLA and it would not be fair to drop the sitting MLA. However, we had given him the option of contesting from two other seats and the talks are progressing in that direction,” Fadnavis said.

Soon after BJP’s snub, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal extended an offer to Utpal, after Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said the non-BJP parties should support Utpal if he contests in the election as an independent. “If we support Utpal, we will also take an assurance from him that he would not support the BJP if it is voted to power,” Raut said.