New Delhi: Ahead of the upcoming Goa assembly elections 2022, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut stated on Sunday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had created a new face for itself in Goa by bringing in the land and drug mafias.
He claimed that the party would not win a majority in the state’s upcoming assembly elections, ANI reported.
He also talked about the recent resignations of former Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Utpal Parrikar, son of late Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar.
The Shiv Sena MP went on to say that both prior Chief Ministers played critical roles in boosting the BJP in the state.
“But now Utpal Parrikar and Laxmikant Parsekar have left the BJP. The BJP has made a new face by including land and drug mafia in the party. I can give you in writing that BJP will not get a majority in Goa,” Raut was quoted by ANI in its report.
On Friday, Utpal Parrikar, the son of former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, resigned from the BJP’s when the party refused him a ticket in the Panaji constituency, instead fielding Congress party defector Atanasio “Babush” Monserrate.
Following the denial of ticket, Parrikar opted to run as an independent candidate in the approaching Goa election.
“I will be contesting as an independent candidate from Panaji constituency. Panjim people voted for Manohar Parrikar all these years because he stood for certain values. I also have those values in me. The time has come for me also to stand up to those values,” Utpal was quoted by ANI in its report.
Meanwhile, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had previously stated that the BJP’s central leadership was in contact with Utpal Parrikar and has given him two constituencies in the forthcoming Goa Assembly elections.
Goa Legislative Assembly Election 2022
With the term of the current Goa Legislative Assembly expiring on March 15, the Goa Assembly Election will be conducted in one phase, i.e. in the second phase of the Assembly Elections 2022. The date of polling in Goa is February 14, 2021.
The counting of the votes is scheduled to take place on March 10, 2021.
Goa Legislative Assembly Election 2017
Goa elections were last held on February 4, 2017, with Congress emerging as the single largest party with 17 MLAs. The election results threw up a hung assembly in the state with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning 13 seats in the 40-member assembly.
BJP managed to form the government with support from regional parties and independents.
However, the BJP formed a government forging an alliance with the support of the Goa Forward Party (GFP), Maharastrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), and two Independents, to reach the magic figure of 21 in the 40-member house.
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