PANAJI
Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Benaulim MLA on Thursday said he is confident that the INDIA bloc candidate, Captain Viriato Fernandes will win the South Goa Lok Sabha seat comfortably.
Viegas, however, added that election management and the campaign would have been much better if his party's candidate had contested and managed it on behalf of the INDIA bloc.
In the run-up to the May 7 elections, AAP had unilaterally announced the name of Viegas as the candidate for the South Goa parliamentary seat. However, following negotiations with the Congress and other INDIA bloc constituents, it withdrew the Benaulim MLA's candidature and left both the Goa seats for candidates of the grand old party.
Viegas said when he was told to first contest and later his candidature was withdrawn, he wasn't upset. He said there was a lot of delay in declaring candidates when he was told by the party to contest and named as the candidate.
Even when it was decided that the Congress would contest both the seats, there was a delay but he was the first off the blocks to hit the ground, without even waiting for the candidates to be announced, the AAP legislator said. He said Congress' Fernandes will win the South Goa seat and will get the highest margin in his Benaulim assembly segment.
