Fadnavis said that efforts to bring in both the rebels are back, but added that there is limitation to such outreach…reports Asian Lite News
Goa’s late Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s son, Utpal, was not denied a ticket, in fact he was offered two other constituencies as options to contest from, the BJP’s poll in-charge for the coastal state Devendra Fadnavis said on Saturday. Speaking to reporters in Mapusa town, Fadnavis also said that there were limitations to the party’s outreach efforts to bring back into the fold rebels like Utpal Parrikar and former Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar.
“Utpal Parrikar has not been denied a ticket. We have given Utpal Parrikar the option to contest in two constituencies. One of them was a traditional BJP bastion, but he wanted to contest from the Panaji (assembly) constituency in particular. He rejected both assembly constituencies. We are sad that he is not with us,” Fadnavis said.
Utpal Parrikar quit the BJP last week after he was denied a ticket to contest from the Panaji Assembly constituency, which was represented by his father from 1994 to 2019, when he died in office.
Utpal Parrikar has claimed that he took the decision because of the tainted background of the BJP’s official candidate Atanasio Monserrate, who is being probed for raping a minor girl in 2018.
Another major rebellion faced by the BJP is the one by Parsekar, who also quit the BJP and has filed his nomination papers as an independent candidate, after his claim for a ticket was also rejected in favour of sitting MLA Dayanand Sopte, who joined the saffron Party from the Congress in 2019.
Fadnavis said that efforts to bring in both the rebels are back, but added that there is limitation to such outreach. “It is always our wish, that if someone from our family is separated, then they should come back to the family. Such efforts are on. But if someone has decided that they do not want to come back, then there are limitations to our efforts too, but if someone does decide to return to the family, then we will certainly welcome them and bring them closer,” he said.
Elections to 40 seats of the state legislative Assembly are scheduled to be held on February 14.
Poll dotted by dynasty raj
The dynasty phenomenon has appeared to have aged like fine wine in Goa ahead of the February 14 Assembly polls. And just like wine offers red, white and rose variants, the upcoming elections appear to have broken down the dynasty concept to sons and daughters, spouses and sundry.
The BJP appears to have displaced the Congress this time, when it comes to adopting the Family Raj doctrine, although the party appears to have preferred couples more than direct political descendants, when it comes to ticket allocation. The BJP has picked two couples, Vishwajit and Divya Rane from Valpoi and Poriem Assembly constituencies, respectively. The party has also nominated the Monserrates, Atanasio and Jennifer, as its candidates from Panaji and Taleigao seats for the Valentine’s Day poll.
The one couple which could not make the cut in the BJP are the Kavlekars. While Deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar got the BJP ticket from the Quepem Assembly seat, his wife Savitri, who was also vying for a BJP ticket from the neighbouring Sanguem Assembly constituency, has had to contend with being an independent candidate.
The Trinamool Congress follows the BJP, allotting tickets to two couples, Kiran Kandolkar and his wife Kavita from the Aldona and Thivim Assembly constituencies, while the Congress has settled for just one marital pair, Michael and Delilah Lobo from the Calangute and Siolim Assembly constituencies.
Sons of powerful political sires have however found less favour with the BJP this time, as compared to wedded couples. The notable omission is late Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal, whose claim for the ticket to the Panaji seat was rejected in favour of Atanasio Monserrate.
Union Minister of State for Tourism Shripad Naik’s son Siddesh also could not make it to the BJP’s ticket roster. While Utpal has filed his nomination papers as an independent candidate, Siddesh has backed off from the brink of rebellion after he was offered the post of a secretary in the party’s state unit.
Late Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza’s son Joshua however appears to have made the cut in the BJP, with the party offering him a ticket to contest the Mapusa assembly seat. Francis D’Souza was undefeated in Mapusa from 1999, before the BJP’s most prominent Catholic face died in 2019.
The Alemaos appear to be the luckiest clan when it comes to cornering the most number of tickets in these polls. While the Trinamool Congress has fielded the father-daughter duo of Churchill and Valanka from the Benaulim and Navelim Assembly constituencies, respectively, in South Goa, Yuri Alemao, Churchill’s nephew, has secured a ticket from the Cuncolim Assembly constituency. Yuri’s father Joaquim incidentally has also been a Congress legislator in the past. The Dhavalikar brothers, Sudin and Deepak, are the only sibling pairing to contest the February 14 Assembly elections from the Marcaim and Priol constituencies representing the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party.
The state’s most forested sub district of Sattari represents the sundry classification of the dynasty concept. The candidates contesting the two constituencies of Valpoi and Sattari would be more at home sitting at a family dinner rather than featuring as election combatants. The Poriem Assembly constituency in Sattari has been represented by former Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane for over 50 years. Goa was poised to witness a contest between Pratapsingh Rane on a Congress ticket against his daughter-in-law Divya Rane, who has been fielded by the ruling BJP.
Pratapsingh Rane withdrew from the contest at the goading of his son and Divya Rane’s husband Vishwajit, Health Minister in the outgoing government who is contesting from the Valpoi assembly constituency on a BJP ticket.
The Congress’ last minute replacement of Pratapsingh Rane in Poriem is yet another Rane– Ranjit Rane, who is the son of former MLA Jaysingrao, who belongs to the Rane clan.
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