Dy Speaker confident even as 5 others vie for BJP ticket

CANACONA

With only months left for the assembly elections, election fever is slowly taking centrestage in every part of Canacona taluka.

The BJP may be represented by Isidore Fernandes as Canacona MLA, but there is no dearth of candidates vying for the party ticket in the southernmost assembly seat.

For now, there are at least five others making efforts to stake claim to the prized party ticket and this mini-battle will be as intense as the actual assembly election, as was the case in 2017.

A fierce battle for the party ticket had led Ramesh Tawadkar to rebel and contest against the party candidate, Vijay Poi Khot, enabling then Congress leader Isidore Fernandes to win following a split in BJP votes.

For the 2022 polls, sitting BJP MLA and Dy Speaker Isidore Fernandes is confident of retaining the party ticket but has refused to be lethargic and says he is pursuing programmes of the party and government, to ensure he is given first preference.

“When I was among 10 Congress MLAs who joined the BJP, I was assured of the party ticket from Canacona constituency in the 2022 polls,” said Fernandes.

Former minister Ramesh Tawadkar, the party state vice-president and chairperson of the state ST/SC commission, is also confident of the BJP ticket.

“The party has realised only I can win back the Canacona seat for the party. My supporters are backing me to contest on the BJP ticket as a loyal party soldier,” claims Tawadkar

Former Canacona MLA Vijay Poi Khot is equally hopeful of the ticket, but has largely been out of the limelight during these four years and has surfaced a few months ahead of the polls. Khot is relying on his loyal base of supporters to stake claim to the ticket.

The fourth claimant is former GCA president Chetan Dessai, who began political activities about two years ago and has been constantly in touch with the “Who’s Who” of Canacona politics.

Dessai’s claim to the ticket has ruffled a few feathers, especially since he has been pursuing his cause with central party leaders.

The fifth aspirant is Canacona BJP block secretary and former Canacona Municipal Council (CMC) chairperson Divakar Pagi. He may have lost the recent municipal elections, but that has not deterred the leader from the Pagi community, which has a sizeable base in Canacona, from staking claim to the ticket.

The sixth applicant is former CMC chairperson and Chaudi Councillor Ramakant Naikgaunkar, who claims to be a staunch BJP karyakarta and given a strong base of supporters, recently staked claim to the BJP ticket for Canacona.