Readiness to further father's legacy..! BJP to field Manohar Parrikar's son for Panaji Assembly seat

Panaji, April 25: Post the two Lok Sabha elections and three Assembly bypolls on April 23, the BJP and the Congress are gearing up for the May 19 election to the prestigious Panaji Assembly seat that fell vacant following the demise of former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. Parrikar died on March 17 after a prolonged battle with pancreatic cancer.

  

After the deep long discussions with various party units, including the Panaji block committee, the Bharatiya Janata Party has shortlisted Utpal Parrikar, the elder son of late Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, to contest contest the upcoming bypoll in the Panaji Assembly seat, a party leader said on Thursday.

 

"Two names have been shortlisted, one is Utpal Parrikar and the other is Siddharth Kunkolienkar”, the senior BJP leader confirmed. “Both the names would be sent to the party's parliamentary board in New Delhi for a final decision”, he added.

 

The Panaji Assembly bypoll, scheduled on May 19, was necessitated following the death of sitting BJP MLA and the then chief minister Manohar Parrikar last month. Utpal Parrikar, 38, who has done a Masters degree course from the US and is presently into business, earlier said he would be ready to take any responsibility given to him by the BJP.

 

In a recent interaction with media, Utpal had said that he was willing to take on any responsibility which the BJP offered. He had campaigned extensively for BJP's North Goa MP and Union Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Naik in the Lok Sabha election and party’s candidate for the Mapusa bye-election on April 23.