Utpal Parrikar, the son of former Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, has joined the race for his father's constituency Panaji as an independent candidate after the BJP denied him a ticket.
Utpal Parrikar offered prayers at a temple this morning before filing his nomination papers from Panaji.
He will take on sitting MLA Atanasio 'Babush' Monserrate, who was chosen over him by the BJP for the Panaji contest.
An upset Utpal Parrikar quit the BJP last week and declared that he would contest from his father's constituency anyway.
Manohar Parrikar, a three-time Chief Minister, died in 2019. He held the Panaji seat for 25 years. In the by-election after Mr Parrikar's death, his long-time rival Babush Monserrate, accused in a rape case, won as a Congress candidate but later switched to the BJP.
Utpal Parrikar quit last Friday, and said he would readily withdraw from the contest if the BJP fielded "an honest candidate with integrity and no criminal records" from Panaji. He did not name Mr Monserrate.
Talking to news agency PTI, Utpal Parrikar, the elder son of Manohar Parrikar, said the decision to quit the BJP was "most difficult".
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