PANAJI
The State's political cauldron is set to boil in the coming days with the Election Commission of India having announced that the by election to the Ponda Assembly constituency, necessitated by the death of former chief minister Ravi Naik last October, will be held on April 9.
The Commission declared the schedule at a press conference in New Delhi on Sunday afternoon and the official gazette notification will be issued on Monday.
As per the schedule, nominations will be accepted from Monday until March 23, with scrutiny on March 24. The deadline for withdrawal of candidatures is March 26. Polling will take place on April 9, and counting of votes is slated for three weeks later on May 4.
Administrative machinery and political parties, meanwhile, have swung into action, preparing for what is expected to be a keenly contested battle, coming as it does ahead of the general assembly election due in February-March next year.
The vacancy arose following the death of Ravi Naik on October 15, 2025. Naik, a towering figure in Goan politics, had represented Ponda multiple times. His passing left a significant void, making this bye election politically sensitive.
Ponda is considered one of Goa’s most influential constituencies and political observers say the contest will be intense, with major parties eyeing the seat.
The ruling BJP State president Damu Naik has confirmed that the party's Central Parliamentary Board will finalize their candidate and the State unit has already shortlisted and dispatched names of two probables.
Naik's son Ritesh and Vishwanath Dalvi, a long standing karyakarta of the saffron party in Ponda are reportedly the two probables recommended to the party's Delhi leadership by the State unit.
On the other hand, the Congress State president Amit Patkar has announced that the party’s candidate will be declared by the party's CEC in Delhi soon.
Ketan Bhatikar, who was a close runner-up to Naik losing by just 99 votes in 2022 and recently switched from the MGP to the Congress is a frontrunner as is the party's own leader, Rajesh Verenkar, who also did extremely well in the 2022 outing.
Other political parties like Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) could also possibly throw their hat in the ring.
Meanwhile, adding to the intrigue is a shift in the electoral arithmetic in Ponda with the recent Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls reducing the electorate by 4,230 voters compared to the 2022 Assembly election.
The rolls published and notified after SIR in February has downsized Ponda's total electorate from 32,157 to 27,927 and analysts say this could alter strategies and potentially benefit one or the other parties, though the exact impact remains uncertain.
