BJP to introspect Panaji bypoll defeat, says Manohar Parrikar’s son
PANAJI (Goa): Former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal Parrikar on Sunday said the BJP will introspect its defeat in the by-election to the Panaji.Assembly seat, which was held by his father for long.
Congress leader Atanasio Monserratte on Thursday won the Panaji bypoll, necessitated due to the death of sitting MLA Manohar Parrikar in March.The Congress nominee defeated BJP candidate Siddharth Kunkolienkar by a margin of over 1,700 votes in the seat, which was held by the saffron party for 25 years.
The former chief minister’s son was earlier among the candidates shortlisted by the BJP, but it later fielded Kunkolienkar in the bypoll, held on May 19.
Parrikar`s son Utpal on Sunday said that he would submit his ‘internal assessment’ of the loss of the prestigious Panaji assembly seat, formerly represented by his father for over two decades, to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state leadership.
Utpal Parrikar, one of the front-runners for the Panaji assembly bypoll held on May 19, who was mysteriously edged out in the race by his father`s former aide Sidharth Kuncalienkar, also said that there was no point thinking about the past and efforts should be made to initiate course correction so as to wrest the seat, held by the BJP for 25 years, back into the party fold.
“I will give the party my internal assessment. What corrections need to be done will be done. We will try and get this seat after taking their (state BJP leadership) help,” he told reporters here. “There is no point thinking about what has happened in the past,” he added.
Of the four assembly bypolls held in Goa on April 23 and May 19, the BJP won three but lost the Panaji seat to Congress` Atanasio Monserrate. Utpal Parrikar, who actively campaigned for the BJP in the bypoll, said the party will do an assessment of its defeat and make all efforts to win the seat next time. (With Agency Inputs ).
