Parrikar's son, aide in race for BJP ticket for Panaji bypoll

Panaji: The Goa BJP on Wednesday shortlisted the names of late Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal and his aide Sidharth Kuncalienkar for the upcoming bypoll to the Panaji assembly seat, a top party leader said.

Talking to reporters after a meeting of the state Bharatiya Janata Party top brass, state party President Vinay Tendulkar said that the candidate for the May 19 Panaji bypoll will be finalised by Thursday evening.

"Our party workers have submitted two names, that of Utpal Parrikar and Sidharth Kuncalienkar for the Panaji by-elections. We will forward them to our party's Central Election Committee. We expect to finalise the candidate by tomorrow (Thursday) evening," he said.

After Parrikar died on March 17, following a prolonged battle with pancreatic cancer, his elder son, Utpal, had said that he was "willing to take on any responsibility" which the BJP offers him.

On the other hand, Kuncalienkar has been a Parrikar aide for nearly a decade now and was chosen by him to contest the Panaji assembly seat, after Parrikar was inducted into Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet as Defence Minister in 2014. After Parrikar returned to state politics in 2017, Kuncalienkar resigned as MLA to allow Parrikar contest from the Panaji seat once again.

The Congress on Wednesday has already announced its candidate in the bypoll will be former Education Minister Atanasio Monserrate.