Utpal Parrikar, elder son of late chief minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday criticised former Goa Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Subhash Velingkar for questioning his political credentials and "criticising Parrikar for sake of publicity in the national media".
Replying to questions from presspersons at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters here, Mr. Utpal who has begun working for BJP in the Lok Sabha polls said that while his younger sibling and he had strategically stayed away from politics when their father was alive, he always considered BJP party workers as part of his family and he would accept any responsibility that the party offers him in the future. Adding that “When one Parrikar was there, others had to stay and help in the background, that is what we were doing.
"Only my work will define what I am made of. My people of Panaji will decide my worth. The people of Goa will decide my worth," Mr. Parrikar said responding to questions on criticism from Mr. Velingkar who said that he lacks political experience.
Mr. Velingkar, who was considered the political mentor of late Mr. Parrikar, was sacked as Goa RSS chief after falling out with Mr. Parrikar over the continuation of grants to English medium primary schools by Mr. Parrikar’s government in 2012 and has since been a bitter critic of Mr. Parrikar and his government.
Mr. Utpal sarcastically said that criticising Mr. Parrikar often fetched his critics space in the national media.
"I do not believe in virtue-signaling to Goans, through TV. It is called ‘click bait’ news. You upload a news item on Youtube, then you appear on TV, and then on newspapers by abusing Mr. Parrikar. He was a national leader, so the criticism appears in national news," Mr. Utpal said without naming Mr. Velingkar.
Responding to criticism to his political entry as the foisting of "family raj" by the Congress, Mr. Utpal reiterated that he and his brother Abhijat strategically kept away from politics until their father was alive.
Mr. Utpal is presently the front-runner for the Panaji seat in the upcoming bypolls on May 19. The seat fell vacant following the death of his father on March 17 following a prolonged battle with pancreatic cancer.
Mr. Parrikar represented the Panaji constituency from 1994 till his death with a break from 2014- 2017 when he was inducted as the Defence Minister. , only to come back to power and form a coalition government in Goa after 2017. State assembly election and having won the Panaji seat yet again in a byelection.
