Laxmikant Parsekar (born Laxmikant Yashwant Parsekar; 4 July 1956) is an Indian politician who held the office of the Chief Minister of Goa, a state in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

from 2014 to 2017. He was the member of the

Goa Legislative Assembly The Goa Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the state of Goa in India. The Assembly meets at the Goa State Legislative Assembly Complex in Porvorim, Bardez. The Eighth Goa Legislative Assembly consists of 40 members. The assem ...

from Mandrem constituency, and he belonged to the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...

. He is currently an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

politician. He was appointed the Chief Minister of Goa on 8 November 2014, replacing

Manohar Parrikar Manohar Parrikar (born Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar; 13 December 1955 – 17 March 2019) was an Indian politician and leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party who served as Chief Minister of Goa from 14 March 2017 until his death. Previous ...

. During the Goa Assembly Election in 2017, he lost from his seat of Mandrem. He resigned on 11 March 2017.

Early life and education

Laxmikant Parsekar was born on 4 July 1956 in the village of Arambol (regionally called Harmal),

Pernem taluka Pernem is a northmost administrative region or sub-district in North Goa. It acts as the Gateway of Goa from Maharashtra side. It is also the name of the town of Pernem, which is its headquarters. It has a Municipal Council. Geographically, Pernem ...

of Goa. He has done his M.Sc (1980) and B.Ed (1981) from Centre of Post Graduate Instruction & Research,

Panaji Panaji (; also known as Panjim) is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of North Goa district. Previously, it was the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India. It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river estuary i ...

, Goa, (then

Bombay University The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed h ...

). He was the principal of Harmal Panchakroshi Secondary School, Harmal, Goa.

Political career

He served as Goa's Minister of Health before becoming Chief Minister and has a strong connection to the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family ...

. * In 1988, he contested and lost against sitting MLA and

Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party ( MGP) was Goa's first ruling party after the end of Portuguese rule in Goa in 1961. In the first elections held after the Annexation of Goa by India, it ascended to power in December 1963 and stayed in power ...

candidate Ramakant Khalap from Mandrem constituency, as a candidate of the BJP, then a virtual non-entity in Goa. He was instrumental in building the BJP's support base along with political veterans like

, Rajendra Arlekar and

Shripad Naik Shripad Yesso Naik (born 4 October 1952) is an Indian politician serving as the current Minister of State for Tourism and Ports, Shipping and Waterways of India in office 7 July 2021 (in Second Modi ministry). He was the former Union Minister o ...

, Union Minister of State for Health AYUSH Department * From 1994 to 1999, he served as a General Secretary of the Goa BJP * In 1999, he contested and lost again to Ramakant Khalap, but in 2002, he defeated Khalap by a small margin of 750 votes. * While he did not serve in the first BJP government in Goa, Parsekar served as the President of the BJP Goa Unit from 2000 to 2003 and then from 2010 to 2012. * In 2007, he doubled his victory margin in the Mandrem seat. * In 2012, he was re-elected when the BJP posted a remarkable victory, winning 21 out of 40 seats during the

2012 Goa Legislative Assembly election The Goa legislative assembly election was held on 3 March 2012, to select the 40 members of the Sixth Goa Legislative Assembly, as the term of Sixth Legislative Assembly ended on March 2012. The result was announced on 6 March. The Bharatiya Jan ...

. * After Chief Minister

joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet as India's Defense Minister, Laxmikant Parsekar was sworn in as his replacement on 8 November 2014. * In 2017, he lost the Mandrem assembly seat to Dayanand Sopte of the Indian National Congress. He resigned as Chief Minister on 11 March 2017. Later, Sopote joined BJP. * In 2022, he resigned from BJP when the party decided to field Sopote from Mandrem seat for Goa Vidhan Sabha mid-term election. Parsekar contested as an independent and came third, but polled enough votes to ensure the defeat of BJP's Sopote.

References

1956 births Living people Chief ministers from Bharatiya Janata Party Chief Ministers of Goa People from North Goa district Members of the Goa Legislative Assembly Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Goa {{Goa-BJP-politician-stub

Early life and education

Political career

See also

References