Laxmikant Parsekar says he will contest as an independent
Highlight
- Former Goa CM resigns from BJP for not getting ticket
- Parsekar was upset over not being given ticket by the party from Mandrem assembly constituency.
- BJP has fielded sitting MLA Dayanand Sopte from this seat.
Former Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, who has resigned from the BJP after being denied ticket for next month’s state assembly polls, said on Sunday that he would contest from Mandrem constituency as an independent. Senior leader Parsekar said he tendered his resignation on Saturday and quit all party posts.
At the time of his resignation, Parsekar was the head of the ruling party’s manifesto committee for the February 14 assembly elections. He said that many political parties have approached him after his resignation, but he would prefer to contest as an independent candidate. “I will file my nomination soon,” he said.
The 65-year-old politician was upset after the party denied him ticket from Mandrem assembly constituency. The BJP has fielded sitting MLA Dayanand Sopte from the constituency that Parsekar represented between 2002 and 2017. Sopte had defeated Parsekar as a Congress candidate in the 2017 elections, but joined the ruling party in 2019 along with nine other leaders.
Parsekar was the Chief Minister of Goa between 2014 and 2017. He was chosen to head the state after the then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Inducted into the Union Cabinet as Defense Minister.
Read also | Two BJP MLAs from Goa said ‘party changed after Parrikar’s death’
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