Goa Assembly Elections: Ex-CM Laxmikant Parsekar Quits BJP, To Contest Independently

Parsekar’s decision to resign from the BJP comes after the saffron party fielded Sopte from Mandrem, the former’s home turf.

Former Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar. (File Photo/ Getty)

New Delhi: In yet another setback to the BJP ahead of the Goa Assembly polls, former Chief Minister and senior party leader Laxmikant Parsekar on Saturday said that he would resign from the ruling party after being denied a party ticket.

Speaking to news agency ANI over the phone, Parsekar said, “I would be formally submitting my resignation to the party on Saturday evening.”

Former Goa chief minister and senior BJP leader Laxmikant Parsekar, who was denied ticket by the party for the upcoming state Assembly elections, said he will resign from the ruling party.

(File pic) pic.twitter.com/04XwVJ2YwO

— ANI (@ANI) January 22, 2022

The 65-year-old leader currently heads the party’s manifesto committee ahead of the state elections and is also a member of the BJP core committee.

A three-time MLA from Mandrem, Laxmikant Parsekar was sworn in as the Goa Chief Minister on November 8, 2014, after Manohar Parrikar was inducted into the Union Cabinet.

However, he suffered a crushing defeat in the 2017 Assembly polls where he lost to Congress' Dayanand Sopte by a margin of 7,119 votes. Subsequently, Sopte switched to BJP in 2019 with nine other members and was re-elected from Mandrem.

Parsekar’s decision to resign from the BJP comes after the saffron party fielded Sopte from Mandrem, the former’s home turf.

He said that he has decided to disassociate himself from the party and contest from the seat independently, as per ANI. 

I was a member of BJP for years but the party took me for granted. I have prepared to disassociate myself from the party & have decided to contest independently. I will come out with this declaration in a couple of days: Laxmikant Parsekar, former Goa CM on resigning from BJP pic.twitter.com/bgp0Xcxs1A

— ANI (@ANI) January 22, 2022

Laxmikant Parsekar’s call to quit the saffron camp comes a day after Utpal Parrikar, son of another former Chief Minister of Goa Manohar Parrikar, announced his decision to resign from the party due to the same reason of being denied a ticket ahead of the Assembly polls.