Panaji
Yet another Congress ticket hopeful crashed out early in the race for Panaji constituency reflecting the uphill task facing the Congress party in finalising a candidate to lock horns with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.
Former Mayor, and also a former BJP leader, Ashok Naik on Monday announced his decision not to step into the fray at the upcoming Panaji by-poll for the simple reason that his support-base remains divided on his entry into the Congress.
"I was in talks for the last three to four days with Congress party in the hope that with 4,000 to 5,000 Congress votes and my own vote bank, I will win Panaji by poll. I consulted many people. Several karyakartas told me that they will not like it if I contested on Congress ticket. I couldn't bring myself to contest without being sure of victory," Naik stated in his press brief at Panaji.
Naik, who has been a member of BJP for 27 years and BJP Panaji block president for four years, said that he continues to have many well-wishers in BJP while also enjoying the support of councillors backed by Atanasio "Babush" Monserrate and majority of the Catholic community from Panaji.
"Congress asked me to enter the party. Shantaram Naik is a good man and he supported me. But there is a new culture of distributing money for votes. I don't have money to distribute like that," Naik said.
That said, Naik declared that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar can be defeated in Panaji. The firmer Panaji Mayor pointed out that Parrikar, who has been the Panaji MLA since 1994 till he was raised to the Union Defence berth in November 2014, has not paid any attention to resolving issues such as the market issue, garbage menace and cleaning of St Inez creek.
Meanwhile, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Shantaram Naik said that the party will now choose a candidate in consultation with its MLAs.
"Ashok Naik had approached us. But he has today communicated that he would wish not to contest. In these circumstances, we have to search for other candidates. We have certain two to three more names. I will have to assess the opinion of Congress Legislature Party. I hope to communicate our decision to AICC by today itself," Naik said adding that the Congress would want to decide the matter as early as possible.
In case of Valpoi, he stated that the party has almost confirmed the name of Roy Naik as its candidate.
When asked whether Congress has considered the name of All India Congress Committee secretary Girish Chodankar for Panaji ticket, Naik said, "People expect candidate from North Goa. Personally, I agree. But ultimately, it will be AICC's decision."
According to party insiders, while Chodankar is a frontrunner for the Panaji ticket, Congress leadership is also considering the names of Goa Congress general secretary Adv Yatish Naik, Mahila Congress president Pratima Coutinho, Jitendra Deshprabhu, Ramakant Khalap and Babi Bagkar for the bypolls to the capital city.
