Panaji bypoll: BJP, Cong in tug-of-war for Parrikar bastion

In 1994, BJP's Manohar Parrikar, who went on to become Goa chief minister and the country's Defence minister, won his maiden assembly election from Panaji seat, wresting it from the Congress, which the latter could never win in the last 25 years.

But this time, Parrikar's absence has brightened the hopes of the opposition party.

The May 19 by-election to the Panaji seat, necessitated after Parrikar's death in March, is turning out to be a battle of prestige for the Congress and the BJP, as the parties are leaving no stone unturned to come out on top.

The BJP has fielded former MLA Siddharth Kunkolienkar, who had earlier represented the constituency in the absence of Parrikar in 2015 and 2017, during the latter's stint as the defence minister in the Modi government.

The Congress has given ticket to former state minister Atanasio Monserratte.

All these years, the BJP had managed to hold grip over the Panaji seat and Parrikar's charisma was one of the major factors. After his death, there was a talk that the BJP was considering fielding Parrikar's elder son Utpal from the seat. However, the party finally chose Kunkolienkar.

State minister Mauvin Godinho had Thursday said the BJP's top brass might have denied the ticket to Utpal to avoid the charge that the party was promoting "family raj" (dynastic politics).

In the 2017 Goa assembly election, Kunkolienkar had defeated Monserratte, who was in the fray as an independent candidate supported by Congress.

Talking to PTI, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Girish Chodankar said that had the BJP fielded Utpal Parrikar, the Congress would have faced some difficulty.

"With Utpal in the contest, the fight would have been difficult for us. Not that we would have lost the election, but difficulty level would have been certainly high. Now, its an easy run for us," he said.

After the by-election to three other assembly seats in Goa- Shiroda, Mandrem and Mapusa- and two Lok Sabha seats in the state held on April 23, the Amit Shah-led party is putting all its strength in Panaji constituency with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and other leaders camping here round-the-clock.

The chief minister is seen mingling with the morning crowd at Mirmar beach several times, a gesture that might help the party to win.

The issues of infrastructure development, removing off shore casinos from the Mandovi river, providing uninterrupted water supply are dominating the campaign.

While the Congress is targeting Kunkolienkar over the alleged corruption in the 'Smart City' project funded by the Centre, the BJP is raising the issue of criminal cases, including rape, registered against Monserratte.

In May 2016, Monserratte had been booked for allegedly raping a girl. He is also facing a case of leading a mob that stoned Panaji police station in 2010.

In a veiled reference to the cases registered against Monserratte, Sawant said, "It's a fight between a person with character and someone characterless."