Parrikar's son warns of 'tough steps' if BJP dies assembly ticket

Former Goa Chief Minister late Manohar Parrikar's elder son Utpal on Thursday warned of "tough steps" if his request for a BJP ticket to contest the Panaji assembly seat -- which his father represented without a break from 1994 -- is turned down by the party.

Turning his birthday celebration into a virtual show of strength, Utpal, an engineer by profession, also said that he had formally requested his party for a ticket to contest the Panaji polls and also expressed confidence that his request would be heeded by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party hierarchy.

"I have already said I have informed my party that I want to contest elections from Panaji and I am confident that my party would give me a ticket," Utpal Parrikar told reporters outside the Mahalaxmi temple in Panaji, where he met dozens of his supporters and well-wishers on the occasion of his birthday.

When asked if he would contest the elections as an independent candidate if his request for a ticket was turned down by the BJP, Utpal said, "I do not want to speak about this now. Manohar Parrikar did not get anything in life easily and I too will have to work hard and I may have to take some tough decisions. I have asked the goddess for strength towards that end".

Utpal was in the race to contest the 2019 Panaji assembly bypoll which was necessitated due to his father's death the same year but was denied ticket hours just before the polls. The ticket at the time was given to the late Parrikar's aide Sidharth Kuncalienkar, who lost the elections to Congress candidate Atanasio Monserrate. A few months later, Monserrate joined the BJP with nine other Congress MLAs.

Ever since he was left out in the cold in the race for the Panaji assembly by-poll, Utpal has criticised the BJP state leadership as well as the BJP-ed coalition government led by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, accusing both the Goa BJP and the state government of wavering from the path which had been established by his father.

Utpal Parrikar claims that he would stay within the BJP and fight it out for his ticket for now.

"I will also stay within the BJP (and fight it out). When the time comes to make a decision, I will listen to the people. I have told the party and the party will give me (ticket). I am confident about it," he said.

Watch the latest DH Videos here: