PANAJI
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's list of candidates for the February 14 assembly elections will be declared only after the party's Parliamentary Board meeting which is scheduled for January 16, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Wednesday.
Sawant said he and BJP state president Sadanand Tanavade will leave for Delhi on January 15, adding that the parliamentary board meeting will be held the next day.
The chief minister said that prospective names will be recommended to the Central leadership by the State unit after assessing their performance if the aspirants are MLAs, connect with people and other aspects including findings of internal surveys.
"The Parliamentary Board will make the ultimate decision on candidates. The State leadership will only make recommendations," Sawant said.
Replying to a question on the candidate shortlisted for Margao constituency given that Deputy Chief Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar is down with Covid, the Chief Minister reiterated that all the candidates will be announced after the Parliamentary Board meeting on January 16.
“Names of many candidates will be recommended to the Parliamentary Board and the same will be finalised after discussions in Delhi on January 16,” he added.
The Opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were first off the block to announce the names of some of their candidates for the February 14 elections to the 40-member Goa legislature.
The Congress had, so far, announced the names of 15 candidates but one of them, former Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, has since quit the party and joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
The AAP released their third list of candidates on Wednesday and has named 25 candidates so far.
