PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and the number two in his cabinet, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane, are expected to be drafted by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for election management in the Konkan region of poll-bound Maharashtra.
On Thursday, Sawant joined the nomination filing entourage of the party candidate in the Rajapur-Lajan Assembly constituency of Sindhudurgh district. The BJP, which is fighting to retain power in the crucial state in alliance with the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, has fielded Kiran Samant from the Rajapur constituency.
Earlier this week, Rane had also engaged himself with election-related work in Maharashtra, meeting top party leaders including the state chief and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai.
Back in 2022, when Goa went to the polls, Fadnavis had played a crucial role in the BJP's campaign, virtually camping in the state for several weeks. He had also extensively engaged in the ground campaign across several constituencies, especially in North Goa and Ponda.
Both Sawant and Rane, BJP sources said, may be utilised by the party in the neighbouring Konkan region and possibly in areas of Mumbai and Pune where a sizeable Goan population resides.
