In a bid to corner the BJP, Shiv Sena withdraws its Panaji candidate in support of Utpal Parrikar

BJP had denied Utpal, son of late Goa CM Manohar Parrikar, a ticket from Panaji in the February 14 assembly elections

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Mumbai: In a bid to corner the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Goa and make it a direct one-to-one contest for the Panaji assembly constituency, the Shiv Sena keeping its promise of backing late Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal Parrikar in the upcoming Goa Assembly election on Monday withdrew its candidate from the poll fray against Parrikar junior who is contesting as an Independent.

The Sena is contesting the 40-seat Goa Assembly election on February 14 in alliance with the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The Sena announced its decision to withdraw its candidate Shailendra Velingkar from the poll fray on the last day of withdrawal of nominations. The Sena further pledged its active support to Utpal Parrikar in the Panaji contest.

It may be recalled that Shiv Sena MP and the party’s Goa in-charge Sanjay Raut had urged all non-BJP parties in the electoral fray to pledge support to Utpal Parrikar’s candidature by not fielding any candidate against him for the Panaji seat.

The Sena chief spokesperson had announced that the Sena would withdraw its candidate from Panaji. The Panaji assembly seat that had been held by late Manohar Parrikar since 1994 till his untimely demise in 2019.

Making the announcement in a Tweet, Raut tweeted, “We are keeping our word. The Shiv Sena is withdrawing its candidate Shailendra Velingkar from Panaji. Not just that, our workers will fully support Utpal Parrikar. We believe that the battle for Panaji is not just about (an) election, but also about the purification of Goan Politics.”

Besides Shiv Sena, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had earlier promised support to Utpal Parrikar while the Congress has fielded an allegedly ‘weak’ candidate from Panaji to boost his chances against Monserrate.

In the ensuing February 14 Goa assembly elections, the contest for the Panaji seat has become the keenly anticipated contest that pits Utpal Parrikar against BJP’s candidate and sitting MLA Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate. It will be a direct contest which will be keenly watched by all political pundits.

However, despite the Sena singing peans of support to Parrikar junior, the Sena has scant presence in Goa and has performed very poorly in the 2017 Assembly election. The Sena had failed to win a single seat and all its candidates had lost their election deposits.

The political stakes for the Panaji constituency were raised after the BJP had denied a ticket to Utpal, deciding to stick with the ‘winnable’ Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate instead. Parrikar junior resigned from the BJP criticising the party for fielding Babush Monserrate, an alleged history-sheeter, instead of a member of Manohar Parrikar’s family. The BJP claims to carry forward Manohar Parrikar’s legacy.

Parrikar junior had argued that his purpose behind contesting was not to seek any post but to stand up for the values that were steadily eroding in the present BJP set-up. He was eager to contest the May 2019 by-election for the Panaji seat which was necessitated by his father’s demise, but was persuaded not to do so by current Goa Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant on grounds that he reportedly did not have good connect with the voters.

According to sources, the BJP leadership wanted Utpal Parrikar to instead support Sidharth Kuncalienkar, who had already been MLA from Panaji between February 2015 and May 2017 in the interim period that Manohar Parrikar was serving as the country’s Defense Minister. It may be recalled that Kuncalienkar had vacated the Panaji seat in May 2017 for Manohar Parrikar to contest after the latter had resigned as Union Defense Minister.

However, the 2019 Panaji by-election turned into a huge debacle for the BJP with Monserrate defeating Kuncalienkar despite the saffron party hoping to ride a ‘sympathy wave’ following Manohar Parrikar’s demise. The BJP lost the Panaji seat for the first time since 1994.