The BJP has set a target of winning 22 seats in the upcoming Goa assembly polls and Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal Parrikar refused to contest from a choice of three seats offered to him, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has told News18,
“This would be BJP’s first election in Goa without Manohar Parrikar being there to guide us. It is a challenge for me but I am sure we are getting the full majority in Goa,” Sawant said in an exclusive interview with News18 in Goa. BJP is contesting all the 40 seats in Goa, without any alliance.
When asked about the infighting in the BJP leading to senior party leaders like Michele Lobo and Laxmikant Parsekar leaving to contest either independently or on other party’s ticket, Sawant candidly said the leaders left for their own ambitions.
“When a leader thinks he is bigger than the party then this situation arises (they need to quit and fight independently or join other parties). Parsekar has started thinking himself above the party. As for Michael Lobo, BJP is a party for whom nation comes first but Lobo is a leader for whom wife comes first. That is why they have left the party,” Sawant told News18,
Utpal Parrikar fighting as an independent too has become an issue in the elections, especially on Panaji seat from where he is contesting. “Had he (Utpal) been a committed worker of the party, he would have listened to the senior party leaders. People should know that it is him who hasn’t taken the ticket. We offered three seats to him to contest from. He refused,” the Goa CM revealed.
Manohar Parrikar’s presence, meanwhile, can be felt everywhere from today’s release of election manifesto by the BJP to the theme song for polls.
Many regional parties like TMC and AAP made a rush to contest the assembly polls in Goa, making the outcome of the election unpredictable and challenging for the incumbent BJP.
‘Regional parties coming to Goa because they have national ambitions’
On who he considers as the main opponent for the BJP in the elections, Sawant said: “There are some seats where the Trinamool Congress is fighting well. So is AAP, Congress and other regional parties on different seats. Every constituency is different this time.”
Sawant believes that every regional party that is not Goa-based is coming to the state “to become national”. He was responding to a question about regional parties like Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) contesting elections.
“All these parties are coming to Goa because they have ambitions. TMC should get some vote share in Goa to become a national party. That is one thing. AAP has to open its account that is why they are working. Congress needs to retain its existence that is why they are working,” said the Goa CM.
With employment getting hurt due to the ban on mining, the CM is making promises to get it resolved within six months. With Congress making the ban on mining an issue this election, BJP is promising to resolve it soon.
“We have formed the mining corporation and our efforts are still on. In the coming six months, mining activities will begin in a full-fledged way. In the coming five years, lot of industries are going to pick up momentum and generate lot of employment,” Sawant said.
With horse trading being an issue in elections and MLAs switching parties for money and cout, the opposition has been combative this time on the issue.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress general secretary, has spoken about horse trading and corruption in the state. She, while speaking exclusively to News18stated that the party has learned from experiences in the past and this time no MLA will leave the party.
Sawant told News18 that as his party will get the full majority, there is no question of any horse trading.
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