Denied ticket by BJP, ex-Goa CM Laxmikant Parsekar to quit party
Panaji(PTI): Former Goa chief minister and senior BJP leader Laxmikant Parsekar, who was denied ticket by the party for the next month's state Assembly elections, on Saturday said he will resign from the ruling party.
Talking to PTI, the 65-year-old leader said he does not wish to remain in the party and will formally submit his resignation by this evening.
Parsekar currently heads the BJP's manifesto committee for the upcoming Goa elections and is also a member of the party's core committee.
The BJP has nominated sitting MLA Dayanand Sopte from Mandrem Assembly segment, which Parsekar had represented between 2002 and 2017. Sopte had defeated Parsekar in the 2017 state polls as a Congress candidate, but joined the ruling party in 2019 along with nine other leaders.
"As of now, I have decided to resign. What I should be doing next, would be decided later, Parsekar said.
He said that Sopte has been neglecting the original BJP workers in Mandrem, due to which there is large-scale resentment among them.
Parsekar was the chief minister of Goa between 2014 and 2017. He was selected to head the state after the then chief minister Manohar Parrikar was inducted into the Union cabinet as the Defence Minister.
The BJP has announced its first list of 34 candidates for the February 14 Goa Assembly elections. There are total 40 seats in the state.
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Thumbay Group begins work on Sharjah’s first private integrated psychiatric, rehabilitation hospital
Sharjah: Thumbay Group has laid the foundation stone for the Thumbay Psychiatric and Rehabilitation Hospital at Sharjah Healthcare City, a 120-bed facility that the company says will be the region’s first private, fully integrated hospital dedicated to psychiatric care, neuro-rehabilitation and addiction recovery.
The groundbreaking ceremony was led by Dr. Abdelaziz Saeed Al Mheiri, who is also a member of the Sharjah Executive Council, in the presence of Dr. Thumbay Moideen.
Spread across 110,000 square feet, the hospital is being developed to address growing demand for specialised mental health and rehabilitation services in the UAE and the wider Gulf region.
The facility will include inpatient and outpatient services in psychiatry, neuro-rehabilitation, addiction treatment, child and adolescent mental health, and care for mood and anxiety disorders. It will also feature VIP inpatient villas designed to provide privacy and support long-term recovery.
A mosque, named the Thumbay Masjid, will be constructed within the campus and will be open to the public.
The hospital is being designed to meet standards for Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), an internationally recognised accreditation system for rehabilitation facilities.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Abdelaziz Saeed Al Mheiri said the project reflects Sharjah’s commitment to strengthening healthcare infrastructure in all aspects of wellbeing.
“Mental health and rehabilitation have long needed dedicated infrastructure, and we are proud to support a private partner whose vision matches the ambition of this Emirate,” he said.
Dr. Thumbay Moideen said the project was a response to a growing need for specialised mental healthcare services in the region.
“We have spent over three decades building healthcare in this region, and the one conversation that has grown louder every year is mental health. Families have been carrying this quietly for too long. This hospital is our answer. It is purpose-built, not retrofitted, and it has been designed around dignity, recovery, and outcomes that families can trust,” he said.
Construction is scheduled to begin in June 2026, and the hospital is expected to become operational by mid-2027.
Once completed, the facility will become part of Thumbay Group’s network of healthcare, education and diagnostic institutions across the UAE.
