The BJP has nominated sitting MLA Dayanand Sopte from Mandrem assembly segment, which Parsekar had represented between 2002 and 2017.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has managed to contain dissent in most areas in the run-up to the Goa assembly polls scheduled for February 14, but four seats, including the prestigious Panaji constituency, continue to be a cause for worry.
Manohar Parrikar, who spearheaded Bharatiya Janata Party's emphatic win in assembly polls with majority of its own for the first time, today took oath as chief minister of Goa at the head of a 6-member coalition government.
Manohar Parrikar, who is tipped to get the defence portfolio, said he would resign as the Goa chief minister on Saturday, paving the way for his induction in the Union cabinet.
Goa's chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar says being dark affects a girl's marital prospects. Have you been at the receiving end of such discrimination?
"I have not asked for it. Also, Manohar Parrikar has not asked for it," the AYUSH minister said when asked about Gadkari's remarks.
Locals of Ramnathi in North Goa district where the Sanatan Sanstha is headquartered, have demanded a ban on the right-wing outfit and urged the state government to ensure that its ashram is shifted out of their village failing which they would intensify their agitation against them and their 'sadhaks' (seekers).
Dhami under whose leadership the BJP had contested the February 14 assembly polls was the frontrunner for the post.
Rediff Labs analyses who's been making the most buzz in the 5 poll-bound states.
"I was not happy in Congress. The Congress state leadership has failed completely," Madkaikar said.
The BJP has the cadres, organisation, and extensive funding. But in the absence of a towering political personality like Manohar Parrikar, the Goa outcome is hard to predict.
In the 2012 assembly elections, Goa had recorded an impressive 81.8 per cent voting.
The race for the Goa chief minister's post intensified on Friday with Deputy Chief Minister Francis D'Souza throwing his hat into the ring as Health Minister Laxmikant Parsekar emerged the front-runner to succeed Manohar Parrikar.
Led by Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado, the legislators Glenn Ticlo, Carlos Almeida and Benjamin Silva were originally scheduled to travel on a state-sponsored junket to Brazil, but agreed to foot their own bill after receiving flak from across the country. They haven't till date.
Goa Health Minister Laxmikant Parsekar was on Saturday sworn in as the new chief minister.
Parrikar has been suffering from a pancreatic ailment for the last one year and has undergone treatment in the United States as well as at AIIMS Delhi and a private hospital in Mumbai.
Upset with the removal of Subhash Velingkar as Goa RSS chief, over 300 Sangh workers have annouced that they will quit the organisation and vowed to "defeat" the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly polls next year if he is not reinstated.
Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar on Wednesday denied having made the alleged remarks on the complexion of nurses protesting in the state and said he was misquoted.
They said this was preliminary voter turnout and the final figure may cross 80 per cent as electoral fate of 301 candidates were locked in EVMs which will be opened on March 10 for counting.
Goa's Rural Development Minister Fransisco Miccky Pacheco, whose conviction for assaulting a government servant was upheld by the Supreme Court, resigned from the cabinet on Friday saying he did not want to cause further embarrassment to the BJP-led government in the state.
Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday commissioned four Indian Coast Guard vessels at port town of Vasco in Goa, which will be mainly used for patrolling and interception.
Goa on Sunday joined several other states in banning the sale of Nestle's instant noodle brand 'Maggi' which is at the centre of a raging nationwide row over food safety concerns.
Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar on Wednesday said some people are born with disabilities due to the "mistake" and "negligence" committed by god.
Hours after Sri Ram Sene announced plans to start its operations in Goa, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar on Monday said the state government will extend the ban on the controversial right-wing outfit for 6 months.
'This is the first time in Goa politics that a communal leadership is being foisted on Goa's people.'
Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar also said that diseases like AIDS can be cured by yoga.
Campaigning came to an end on Saturday for the single-day election in Uttarakhand and Goa, two states known for political volatility where the Bharatiya Janata Party is attempting to retain power, and for the second phase of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh on February 14.
The minister said his target is to complete Mumbai-Goa highway by 2018
Sources said that Velingkar was planning to float a new political outfit to fight the ruling BJP in the state which has not gone down well with the RSS.
Justifying the ban on cow slaughter, the Union minister of state for minority affairs said on Thursday, "Those who cannot survive without eating beef should go to Pakistan."
Goa Minister Dipak Dhavalikar's wife Lata has waded into controversy after she asked parents not to send their children to convent schools even as she urged women to desist from aping western culture, saying it has led to rise in incidents of rape.
He further stated that if the Nigerians come to India to study then the state government and the police should keep a strict watch on them.
The development comes at a time when Parrikar, 62, is undergoing treatment for a pancreatic ailment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.
Goa unit of Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday alleged that the state government was providing financial support to the "extremist and dubious" organisation Sanatan Sanstha, by giving advertisements to its mouthpiece.
In a decision that could spark nationwide outrage, the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Goa has dropped Gandhi Jayanti on October 2 from the list of public holidays.
The names of two veterans -- Health Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Speaker of Legislative Assembly Rajendra Arlekar -- are being considered for the top post in case Parrikar moves to Delhi.
Even as a large number of RSS workers and supporters, including some office bearers, have pledged support to Velingkar, who was removed as the state chief recently, a sizable number of swayamsevaks are averse to part ways with the Sangh.
If pandemic (mis)management threatened to dominate Goa's electoral discourse, the BJP is up against a deeper structural issue in its organisation, created by the fact that a majority of the legislature party and the ministerial council is made up of Congress defectors, disparagingly referred to by the Opposition as "imports". Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
A FIR has been filed against expelled Congress legislator Atanasio Monserrate.
Fabindia's chief executive officer and managing director, who were summoned by the Goa police in connection with the voyeurism case, failed to appear before the investigating officer on Tuesday, even as the police summoned 11 employees of the outlet for questioning.