BJP to introspect Panaji bypoll defeat, says Parrikar's son

Former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal Parrikar on Sunday said the BJP will introspect its defeat in the by-election to the Panaji Assembly seat, which was held by his father for long.

Congress leader Atanasio Monserratte on Thursday won the Panaji bypoll, necessitated due to the death of sitting MLA Manohar Parrikar in March.

The Congress nominee defeated BJP candidate Siddharth Kunkolienkar by a margin of over 1,700 votes in the seat, which was held by the saffron party for 25 years.

The former chief minister's son was earlier among the candidates shortlisted by the BJP, but it later fielded Kunkolienkar in the bypoll, held on May 19.

Utpal Parrikar, who actively campaigned for the BJP in the bypoll, said the party will do an assessment of its defeat and make all efforts to win the seat next time.

"The state BJP leaders and workers will introspect on the results and will ensure that we win the Panaji seat in the next election," he told reporters here.

He said he will give his inputs about the poll results to the party leaders, as and when there is a discussion on it.

"The party will go through the internal assessment and make the required corrections," he said.

Asked if he would have managed to retain the seat had he been given the ticket, he said, "I don't think we will achieve anything by speaking about the past."

By-elections were recently held in four Assembly constituencies of Goa, out of which the BJP won three seats but lost the Panaji seat.