PANAJI
In a massive show of strength, hundreds of BJP karyakartas along with the top leadership of the party accompanied both the candidates -- Shripad Naik and Pallavi Dempo -- as they filed their nominations for the North and South Goa seats before Returning Officers on Tuesday.
Shripad was joined by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Rajya Sabha MP and BJP Goa President Sadanand Shet Tanavade, Ministers Vishwajit Rane, Rohan Khaunte and Govind Gaude, and MLAs Deviya Rane, Delilah Lobo and Jennifer Monserrate, and other BJP leaders, amidst the enthusiastic supporters most of who carried BJP flags and placards of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Naik filed his nomination amidst chants of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" and slogans "Modi tum aage badho, hum tumhare saath hai", "Pramod Sawant tum aage badho , him tumhare saath hai."
Earlier in the day, Pallavi filed her nomination papers before the returning officer at the Mathany Saldanha complex in South Goa.
All six Ministers in Sawant’s Cabinet comprising of Ravi Naik, Mauvin Godinho, Subhash Faldesai, Ramkrishna Dhavlikar, Alexio Sequeira, Subhash Shirokdar, besides Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar kept their date in Margao for the D-day.
Party’s coalition partner Curtorim Independent MLA Reginaldo Lourenco, besides the BJP MLAs from South Goa, Digambar Kamat, Nilesh Cabral, Ganesh Gaonkar, Sankalp Amonkar, Krishna Daji Salkar and Ulhas Tuemkar all were also seen at the district Collectorate.
Sawant, who accompanied both the candidates during the filing of their nominations, expressed confidence that the BJP will win both the seats by huge margins.
The South Goa Lok Sabha seat is currently held by Congress' Francisco Sardinha.
Pallavi is pitted against Viriato Fernandes of the Congress while Shripad will cross swords with Ramakant Khalap of the Congress.
The Lok Sabha polls in Goa will be held in a single phase on May 7.
