Goa: Utpal Parrikar Challenge BJP, Exudes Confidence Of Win In Assembly Polls

Panaji, Jan 27 : Former chief minister Late Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal Parrikar on Thursday expressed confidence that people of Panaji constituency will bless him with their votes. Speaking to reporters before filing his nomination papers as an independent candidate, Utpal said, ”I am confident that the people of Panaji will bless me. I will follow in the footsteps of my father and take his work ahead. I will give 110 per cent of my hard work. You can see that people of Panaji are with me.”

After he was denied the party ticket by the BJP, Utpal decided to contest the upcoming assembly elections as an independent candidate. Panaji has been with the Bharatiya Janata Party since 1994 and was represented by the Late Manohar Parrikar till his death in 2017. However, there was a break in 2015 when  Parrikar was inducted into Narendra Modi’s cabinet at the centre and BJP’s Sidharth Kuncalienkar was elected as an MLA from the same seat. The seat is currently represented by Atanasio Monserrate, who is BJP’s candidate for the upcoming assembly elections.