BJP 'extremely secular' in Goa, thanks to Parrikar: Rane  

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Goa has become "extremely secular" due to late Manohar Parrikar's efforts, said Health Minister Vishwajit Rane here on Monday.

"Parrikar shaped the party that way and today the BJP has a different outlook in Goa. We have got to follow the path paved by the four-time former Chief Minister of the state," Rane said and questioned the secular credentials of the Shiv Sena.

The Minister's remark has come at a time when the Sena is looking to form an alliance of non-BJP parties in Goa on the lines of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

Parrikar, former Defence Minister, was responsible for a unique socio-political engineering strategy in the 2012 Assembly elections, which reached out to the Christian community, which accounts for one fourth of Goa's population.

The BJP fielded a large number of Catholic candidates and won an unprecedented simple majority in the 40-member Assembly then.

Parrikar died after a prolonged battle with cancer in March.-IANS