Team Herald
PANJIM: After accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP of betraying and insulting him just days before the 2022 State elections, despite his long-standing loyalty to the party, former Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar now has kept his options open for 2027 Assembly polls by claiming that he is still a political force to
reckon with.
Speaking to O Herald, Parsekar cryptically said, “After resigning from the BJP in 2022, I never joined any other political party. Therefore in the 2027 polls, time will decide my future course of action. Nowhere I have made a statement that I have left the
(political) field.”
Claiming that he is still a political force to reckon with, he said, “People still invite me for events, they inform me about any death in the village. They also invite me for tournaments despite knowing that I do not give donations. Media too come to me to seek my opinion. This only implies that people want me.”
“Many people went to greet the newly elected BJP President Damu Naik and I was one of them, but my visit is being discussed. It means I am still a force to reckon with. I remained with the party till the 2022 elections came closer, but at the last moment I was denied a party ticket saying that I did not have a winnability factor. But I polled 6,000 votes and the candidate who was fielded by the party could manage to secure 8,000 votes. It means that the party can get only 2,000 votes. If I was given the ticket, I could definitely have won the elections, Parsekar said.
The former Chief Minister rued that various projects which were initiated during his tenure had remained in the same state. "After my defeat in 2017, new MLAs were elected and the present MLA will shortly complete three years but the situation has remained the same. Six lakh square metres of land was acquired for the Electronic City at Tuem and even a zone was converted for that. Road was constructed. Many companies had shown interest to invest there but now nobody cares. It is the duty of the government to widen the road if it is narrow."
Parsekar further said that Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had agreed to have an elevated road there, but no one had pursued it. Lamenting that the construction of the Tiracol bridge linking Maharashtra is also pending, he said, “This bridge is being ignored and PWD was supposed to construct it. A rural medical dispensary was proposed at Tuem during his tenure and the same awaiting its opening. It is after all taxpayers' money. If a building can be constructed within three years then why is it taking eight years to purchase equipment and recruit staff?”