Utpal Parrikar warns of 'tough decisions' if BJP denies poll ticket

Panaji, Nov 18: Former Defence Minister late Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal on Thursday said he will have to take some ''tough decisions'' if he is not given a ticket by the ruling BJP to contest the upcoming Goa assembly polls from Panaji.

Reiterating his intention to contest the 2022 elections on a BJP ticket from the Panaji Assembly segment, he expressed confidence about getting his party's nomination from the seat which was represented for long by his father, a former Goa chief minister.

Utpal Parrikar was talking to reporters after paying a visit to Mahalaxmi Temple in the city on the occasion of his birthday.

Asked if he will contest as an independent if the BJP declines to field him from Panaji, he said, "I do not want to speak about this now. Manohar Parrikar did not get anything in life easily." "I, too, will have to work hard and I may have to take some tough decisions. I have asked the Goddess (Mahalaxmi) for strength," he added.

Utpal Parrikar said he has already informed the BJP that he wants to contest from Panaji. "I am confident my party will give me a ticket," he added.

The BJP leader said he wants to stay in the party whose growth in the coastal state can be attributed in large parts to the efforts of Manohar Parrikar, a stalwart of Goa politics.

"When time comes to take a decision, I will listen to my people," Utpal Parrikar said, adding he would not like to comment further on future plans.

After Manohar Parrikar's death in 2019, Utpal Parrikar was among the candidates shortlisted by the BJP to contest from Panaji in a bypoll.

However, the BJP eventually fielded its leader Siddharth Kunkolienkar who lost the seat, which was held by the saffron party for 25 years.