the goan I network
PANAJI
The Bharatiya Janata Party after much deliberation finally opted to go with Joshua D’Souza in a bid to cash-in on the sympathy factor and announced his name for the April 23 bye-polls to the Mapusa assembly constituency which was necessitated by the death of his father, Francis D’Souza.
The ruling party also officially announced the names of Dayanand Sopte for Mandrem and Subhash Shirodkar for Shiroda.
Sitting MPs, Union Minister for AYUSH Shripad Naik and Narendra Sawaikar, will also contest the Lok Sabha elections from the North Goa and South Goa seats respectively, according to the sixth list of candidates released by the party in Delhi.
The BJP leadership both in Goa and Delhi had already decided on its candidates for the two Lok Sabha seats, besides the Mandrem and Shiroda bypolls after it succeeded to quell the rebellious moves of former chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar.
Both Shirodkar and Sopte had quit their membership and the Congress to switch loyalties late last year and there was no way the BJP could have gone back on its commitment to renominate the duo at the bypolls.
As for Mapusa, a straightforward decision was eluding the party for some time after the claim of its cadre man and long time councillor Sudhir Kandolkar gained traction.
Reports of the Opposition Congress as well as ally Goa Forward Party flirting with D’Souza, also worried the saffron party. It is therefore not a surprise that the party disregarded criticism of pursuing dynastic politics which it flogged to attack the Gandhi family of the Congress, and nominated Joshua in Mapusa in a bid to also cash-in on sympathy for his father following his recent demise.
Earlier too, the BJP in the State had accommodated the late Matanhy Saldanha’s widow Alina in Cortalim and the late Vishnu Wagh’s brother Wamanrao in St Andre at the 2017 assembly elections after a massive heart attack incapacitated the poet-turned-politician.
With Saturday’s decision announcing the candidates for all the five contests in Goa -- two Lok Sabha seats and three assembly bypoll constituencies -- the BJP is off the blocks far ahead of the Opposition Congress which is still struggling to come to a conclusion on candidate selection. BJP general secretary Sadanand Tanvade said, the party is now geared and focused on hitting the ground
for campaigning.
Tanvade also said that the party will be wholeheartedly supported by its allies -- Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and the Goa Forward Party -- in the Lok Sabha as well as Assembly bypolls. He said the MGP will eventually fall in line, when his attention was drawn to Deepak Dhavalikar reiterating that he will contest in Shiroda.
Cong considering
Kandolkar’s name
MAPUSA: BJP’s loss could turn out to be Congress’ gain in Mapusa.
Sources informed that former chairperson and senior councilor, Sudhir Kandolkar has approached the Congress party for a ticket in Mapusa.
A senior Congressman informed The Goan that the party was seriously considering of offering the Congress ticket for Mapusa to Sudhir Kandolkar.
“We have received feelers from Kandolkar’s camp. We are looking into the issue with an open mind and will take a decision soon,” the Congressman said.
