VASCO
Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida on Wednesday managed to showcase his clout and influence in the constituency by getting 20 rivals who had contested against BJP candidates at the recent civic polls to join the party.
The 20 candidates from different wards across the Vasco constituency joined the BJP and were welcomed into the party by BJP State President Sadanand Shet Tanavade.
Later speaking to reporters, Almeida said all 20 candidates inducted had their own voter base and had joined the party at his request.
“I had requested them to reconcile differences and they agreed to our request with an aim to strengthen the party. Some of them are my good and old friends as well," said Almeida.
'Tickets for elections will be decided by the party parliamentary board but the trend is that the sitting MLA has always been given the ticket.”
“I am presently sitting next to the state party president and we have had a successful tour in the entire constituency all through the day. This is enough to ward off speculation and rumours of anyone else trying to claim the BJP ticket for Vasco constituency," said Almeida.
Tanavade said there were procedures for allotment of tickets, even for the chief minister in his constituency.
"I can say that as party president, we have not given any commitment to anyone regarding the BJP party ticket for Vasco. Almeida has been with me all through the day during this event and no one should fall prey till the party declares the candidate.”
“The situation would be different if a person claiming the party ticket had been with me during the tour,” he added.
The BJP state president was confident that the BJP would win the upcoming assembly elections in Vasco.
“During this tour, we met different associations like pilot, rickshaw and taxi associations, temple committees, church priests, ex-servicemen, Gujarati and Kerala associations, carried out meetings in different wards and interacted with people from different walks of life.”
“The icing on the cake was the induction of candidates who had contested against BJP candidates at the civic polls. Their entry into BJP will further strengthen the party in Vasco for the upcoming assembly elections,” said Tanavade.
