After the elections for Goa's two Lok Sabha seats, the BJP and the Congress are preparing for a face-off in the bypoll for Panaji Assembly constituency, which was held by former chief minister Manohar Parrikar.

The BJP has  nominated late Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's aide Sidharth Kuncalienkar as its candidate for the Panaji assembly seat bypolls, ignoring the candidature of his son Utpal Parrikar.Kuncalienkar, a close aide of Parrikar, was first elected MLA in 2015 soon after Parrikar joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet as Defence Minister and resigned from the Panaji seat.

He is pitted against Congress's Antanasio Monserratte, a former minister in state governments led by Parrikar and Digambar Kamat. In the 2017 Goa Assembly elections, Kunkolienkar had defeated Monserratte, who had contested as an Independent and was supported by the Congress.

Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Girish Chodankar  said that "With Utpal in the contest, the fight would have been difficult for us. Not that we would have lost the election, but the difficulty level would have been certainly high. Now, it's an easy run for us."

In the absence of strongman Parrikar, the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to reach out to the electorate.