Goa CM Parrikar will contest from Panjim: Vinay Tendulkar

Days after taking charge as Goa Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar taunted Congress leader Digvijaya Singh by saying “Thank you, it is because of you BJP formed a government in Goa”.

Panaji, May 10: The Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vinay Tendulkar on Wednesday confirmed that the party had decided that Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar will contest from Panaji to get elected to the state Legislative Assembly. He also added that the MLA from Panjim Siddharth Kuncolienkar has willingly decided to resign.

On April 19, the BJP had said that it was holding discussions with two of its legislators in the state on the same.

Goa BJP chief Vinay Tendulkar had earlier said that the discussions were with two MLAs from Nilesh Cabral and Siddharth Kuncolienkar to see if anyone among the two are ready to resign as Parrikar had shown interest to contest from the capital which is his traditional bastion.

Parrikar, who was Union Defence Minister returned to Goa and formed the government with the support of left parties in the state. Parrikar took oath as CM though he did not contest in the elections held in February this year.

It si to remind that Parrikar was elected from Panaji constituency in 2012 but later resigned after he was chosen as Union Defence Minister, Siddharth Kuncolienkar was replaced in the by-poll and won again in 2017 Assembly elections defeating Atanasio Monserratte of United Goans with a margin of 1,500 votes.

How did BJP form government in Goa?

In Assembly Election results earlier in March, the Congress won 17 out of the 40 seats while the BJP bagged 13. The BJP later took the support of one independent candidate. The Maharashtravadi Gomantak Party had 3 seats whole the Goa Forward Party and Nationalist Congress Party had 3 and 1 seats respectively. The MGP is an erstwhile ally of the BJP.

The Parrikar-led government was sworn in on March 14, two days after the BJP staked claim to form a government in the coastal state despite having ended up second after Congress in Assembly polls.

The BJP had 13 MLAs as against 17 of the Congress in the 40-member House. The Parrikar government proved its majority on the floor of the House on March 16 by winning the trust vote with the support of 22 legislators.

OneIndia News