PANJIM: Former chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s ‘man Friday’ Siddharth Cuncolienkar, is his chosen pick to contest the Panjim Assembly seat. The BJP announced his name in the presence of Parrikar, who was back in Goa yet again, on the eve of his birthday, to anoint Cuncolienkar who was a member of his staff, as the BJP candidate. The by-elections, not yet announced, are expected to be held in February 2015. The seat is vacant since Manohar Parrikar resigned as Chief Minister and Panjim MLA last month.
Cuncolienkar, familiar to many in Panjim has been trusted aide of Parrikar and has been handling constituency work for close to ten years.
The BJP Panjim mandal and Parrikar met on Friday evening and unanimously finalised Cuncolienkar’s candidature for the Panjim by-election. However, the official announcement will be made once the by-election dates are announced. The election is likely to be held in February 2015.
Addressing journalists after the meeting attended by nearly 200 workers, Parrikar said that Panjim mandal has unanimously declared Cuncolienkar as their candidate, with the aim of getting more votes than what he had got in the March 2012 Assembly election.
“After thorough consultation with Panjim party workers and well-wishers, Cuncolienkar’s name was finalized. Seventy-five percent people suggested his name, while 100 percent workers said they will go with the party’s decision,” Parrikar said in presence of Cuncolienkar.
Parrikar went on to add that the party has nothing to do with who will be their opponents, as its main focus would be to retain the seat, which has been its stronghold for some time. He said that a target of over 12,000 votes is being set.
“I had got 11,000 votes in the last election and hence I will appeal to people to elect Cuncolienkar with more votes than what I got,” Parrikar said.
Parrikar had defeated Congress’ Yatin Parekh by nearly 6000 votes, in 2012 Assembly election that gave the BJP a clear majority in the State. Parrikar had on November 8 resigned as Chief Minister and thereafter on November 26, he resigned as Panjim MLA.
He said that he would make door-to-door visits in Panjim, during the Christmas vacation, thanking voters for standing by him during his stint in State politics. “This visit will not be a campaign for election, but a thanks giving visit to my voters,” he said.
The BJP State president Vinay Tendulkar said that the candidate’s name would now be sent to BJP’s State election committee and thereafter to the BJP parliamentary board. “The decision is unanimous and we are confident of retaining the seat,” he said.
Tendulkar said that party has already activated its Panjim booth committees and the campaign has already begun on a small scale.
Reacting to his selection as successor to Parrikar in Panjim, Cuncolienkar promised to carry forward the legacy of Parrikar and fulfill the promises made in the manifesto. “We will go ahead with the same manifesto that Parrikar bhai had released during his election campaign,” Cuncolienkar said.
