PANAJI
Congress candidate for Panaji by-poll Girish Chodankar on Saturday challenged BJP candidate Manohar Parrikar to tender his resignation as the member of Rajya Sabha and as the CM and to contest the election as a common man.
Speaking to a section of the media in Panaji, Chodankar stated, "Parrikar is contesting the polls with two positions in tow. He has the membership of RS and is also CM with the support of a Cabinet. There should be a level-playing field. He should resign from these posts and contest the by-poll as a layman like me."
Chodankar pointed out that unlike Parrikar, he doesn't have government machinery at his disposal. "But the fight is not between me and him. It is between him and the people of Panaji," the Congressman argued. "There can be no equality when you are armed with rockets and I am running on my feet," Chodankar stated. He further insisted that he is a ‘mere instrument in this battle'.
The Congress candidate observed that Parrikar is solely responsible for his candidature and explained, "He is responsible for my candidature. If he had not made our first three candidate picks refrain from accepting the Congress ticket, I wouldn't have contested at all. I am an accidental candidate."
