CM avers BJP will win 22 seats despite odds

PANAJI 
Cornered by the high profile exits of top BJP leaders like former chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar and young ticket claimants like former CM late Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday said that the BJP would brook no stopping despite obstacles laid down by those in the party and those outside it to win its target of 22 plus seats in the February 14 elections.

Sawant also refuted allegations that the BJP was using government and election machinery to target its political opponents.

“We are confident that we will have 22 plus seats in 2022. Irrespective of the fact that some of our own and those outside the party are trying to create obstructions, people know for sure that this time too they will vote for a stable government which believes in development,” Sawant told reporters.

Utpal Parrikar quit the party after he was denied a ticket to contest from the Panaji assembly constituency, which his late father had contested and won from 1994. Utpal has said that he would be contesting the polls as an 

independent candidate.

Commenting about the party’s ongoing negotiations with former CM and two-term state BJP president Laxmikant Parsekar, Sawant also said that he was confident that Parsekar would be back into the party fold soon.

“BJP is a national party and Parsekar sir is an ex-CM and ex-state president. We are still talking to him. I am confident that we will convince him and bring him back to the BJP,” the Chief Minister said.

Like Utpal, Parsekar also quit the BJP after the ruling party favoured the candidature of his bete noire Dayanand Sopte from the Mandrem assembly constituency.

Sawant also said that the BJP was contesting all 40 constituencies in Goa for the first time and that the party was getting a good response from the voters.

He also rubbished accusations made by the opposition over the alleged use of government and poll machinery by the BJP to target opposition candidates.

“It is wrong to say because if that was the case BJP leaders would not have received notices (from Election Commission). Nlkanth Halarnkar and Joshua have been issued notices. So many have received such notices,” Sawant said.

In a veiled barb directed at former BJP Minister Michael Lobo, who crossed over into the Congress party recently, Sawant said that people need to beware of such “self-proclaimed” leaders who dream of conquering everything around them.

“Earlier, too, people used to have these dreams about conquering everything... In Bardez, the people of Mapusa know what needs to be done. There is no need for those who self-proclaim themselves as leaders. The common man knows what the BJP has done and what it will do ahead. People will speak out against these self-proclaimed leaders who have caused destruction,” Sawant said.