TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar submitted his resignation as Panjim MLA to the State Legislative Assembly Speaker Rajendra Arlekar on November 20, but made it effective from Tuesday, November 25.
Parrikar, the former chief minister, submitted his resignation to the Speaker before attending the opening ceremony of International Film Festival of India (IFFI). “Parrikar handed over his resignation to me on November 20, with effect from November 25,” Arlekar confirmed to Herald.
With the MLA’s resignation, the stage is set for by-elections in the Panjim assembly constituency, which the ruling BJP believe will be somewhere in February, next year.
Parrikar, who resigned as Chief Minister of Goa on November 8, after he was nominated in the Narendra Modi-led Cabinet, was elected unopposed as member of Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh on November 13. He was elected as Panjim MLA in the March 2012 Assembly election, when he defeated Congress’ Yatin Parekh by a huge margin.
As a member of the BJP, Parrikar was first elected to the State Legislative Assembly from Panjim constituency in 1994. He was again elected in 2002, when he became the Chief Minister for the first time. On February 27, 2002 he dissolved the Assembly and sought re-elections. On 5 June, 2002, he was re-elected and returned as the Chief Minister but again his tenure was short-lived as his government was reduced to a minority on January 29, 2005, after four BJP MLAs resigned from the House. In 2007, the Parrikar-led BJP was defeated in the Goa State elections by Congress, which wrested power, but Parrikar was elected as MLA for the fourth time from Panjim.
With Parrikar as the face of BJP, the party became victorious once again in 2012 after the BJP and allies won 24 seats, in the wake of allegations of corruption against the Congress especially with regard to mining.
