The death of Manohar Parrikar in mid-March, easily takes the top slot in the list of political developments in the year.
The only Goan politician to make it to the Union Cabinet and that too the prestigious Defence Ministry, he was CM multiple times and the void he’s left in Goan politics is still felt.
But after his death, his close aides and supporters, have been accusing Sawant of shrewdly deviating from the political and governance direction he had authoritatively established in the BJP’s reigns over Goa.
Starting with the denial of his Panjim seat, in the by-poll following his death, to his older son Utpal, Sawant and the new captains of the party apparatus have come under severe and sometimes open attack from the faction within, sympathetic to the late Leader.
Parrikar’s death was preceded by the passing away of yet another stalwart of the BJP in his own right - former deputy chief minister Francis D’Souza. But unlike in the case of Parrikar, where his son Utpal was denied the opportunity to step into his shoes, D’Souza’s son Joshua, on the other hand, found favour with the party leadership and was nominated to contest the Mapusa by-poll which he did successfully.
