PANAJI
Former chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar on Thursday lashed out at the ruling BJP and even slighted CM Pramod Sawant by claiming the latter was living in fool's paradise, before filing his nomination as an Independent candidate from the Mandrem constituency.
Parsekar also said that he was no longer interested in becoming a Chief Minister or a Minister once again, while adding that the February 14 elections would be his last shot at becoming a legislator.
The former headmaster also had stern words for Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who has been on record saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership was still in talks with Parsekar, while also expressing confidence that although Parsekar had quit the party, he would not file his nomination papers as an Independent candidate.
"People are free to live in fool's paradise, work their brains, they are free to make assumptions," Parsekar said while responding to a query from media persons about Sawant's claim of ongoing negotiations with him.
"Those who say that talks are on, should come before me and raise their head and start talking to me by looking me in the eye. I am not the one to succumb to the pressure of party seniors," he also said.
The former chief minister also said that he had worked for one ideology and one party for 32 years, adding that the only party that had believed in -- the BJP -- was the one that had meted out injustice.
"For many years, I served one party and one ideology. I joined the ideology and over time Mandrem and the rest of Goa too joined to the ideology... Unexpectedly, some persons in the party meted out injustice to me. Everyone knows this," Parsekar said.
"Someone is saying we are in talks with Parsekar. There is no point in talks. What talks are these? You broke me and now you want to talk?" he said.
Parsekar said that after resigning from the BJP and handing over all responsibilities, he had chosen not to join any political party, but to contest as an independent candidate.
"I handed over all my party responsibilities now. For 32 years I have worked for the party. We aren't those who keep jumping parties. Many parties approached me too after I resigned. But Laxmikant Parsekar will not fall prey to such lures," he said.
"I am not a representative of any party. I am a representative of the people of Pernem and Mandrem... My objective will be furthering the interest of Pernem. I do not want to be CM or Minister. In my last term, I want to finish the last few projects, which were initiated by me in my constituency," Parsekar said.
Parsekar has served as chief minister and as the State President of the Goa BJP on two occasions but was left out in the cold after he faced a crushing defeat in the 2017 polls at the hands of then Congress candidate Dayanand Sopte. Sopte later joined the BJP in 2019.
