MARGAO
The battle lines are finally drawn. On paper, the South Goa Lok Sabha seat will witness a multi-cornered contest with as many as eight candidates in the fray for the May 7 election.
Arch political rivals, the Congress and BJP will once again battle it out for honours for the South Goa seat. The two main players will be challenged by Goa’s nascent regional party, the Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP).
After the last date of withdrawal on Monday, a total of eight candidates are left in the fray. The candidates include Pallavi Dempo of the BJP, Captain Viriato Fernandes of the Congress, Rubert Pereira (Revolutionary Goans Party), Dr Sweta Gaonkar (Bahujan Samaj Party), Harischandra Naik (Corruption Abolition Party) and the three Independents, Alexy Fernandes, Dr Kalidas Vaingankar and Deepkumar D Mapari.
The main contestants, Pallavi Dempo, Captain Viriato Fernandes and Rubert Pereira are contesting the Lok Sabha for the first time, though the last two candidates had unsuccessfully contested the 2022 Assembly election.
Amongst the Independents in the fray, Dr Kalidas Vaingankar had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Another Independent candidate Alexy Fernandes had unsuccessfully contested the 2004 Lok Sabha polls.
This is the seventh time in the recent Lok Sabha electoral history that the Congress and BJP will cross swords against each other. While the Congress had regained the seat from the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the ruling party is going all out to wrest back the South Goa seat in the upcoming election.
For RGP, the May 7 election is the first Lok Sabha election the party is contesting after making an impressive entry into the electoral fray in the 2022 Assembly elections.
South Goa Lok Sabha Candidates: Pallavi Dempo “ Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Capt Viriato Fernandes “ Indian National Congress (INC), Rubert Pereira “ Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP), Alexy Fernandes “ Independent, Dr Sweta Gaonkar “ Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Dr Kalidas Vaingankar “ Independent, Deepkumar D. Mapari “ Independent, Harischandra S Naik “ Corruption Abolition Party
Octagonal contest in North Goa
PANAJI: A total of eight candidates are in the fray in the Lok Sabha polls for North Goa after the end of the process of withdrawal of nomination papers for the third phase.
BJP's Shripad Naik - who is contesting for the sixth term after five consecutive wins, Congress candidate and former union law minister Ramakant Khalap, and Revolutionary Goans Party chief Manoj Parab are among the eight candidates who will fight for the North Goa seat. Three of these are Independent candidates.
North Goa Lok Sabha Candidates: Shripad Naik - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Adv Ramakant Khalap - Indian National Congress (INC), Tukaram Parab - Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP), Milan Vaigankar- Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Sakharam Naik - Akhil Bhartiya Parivar Party (ABPP), Thomas Fernandes - Independent, Adv Vishal Naik - Independent, Shakil Jamal Sheikh - Independent
