Will the BJP field a woman candidate for the South Goa Lok Sabha seat in the coming election? Only time will tell. What’s, however, interesting to note is that BJP’s contenders for the ticket, ex-MP Narendrabhai Sawaikar and challenger, ex-deputy CM Babu Kavlekar have been seen at all party programmes in South Goa. During the day-long tour of CM Pramod Sawant in South Goa as part of the Viksit Sankalp Yatra, the duo was noticeably present all through the yatra. It’s not clear how many of the women candidates shortlisted for the party ticket had attended the party programmes. Any queries?
Girish on the back foot in Cong S Goa ticket race
Well-wishers of ex-GPCC Chief and Congress Working Committee member Girishbab Chodankar are seemingly on the job to persuade him to withdraw from the ticket race for the South Goa Lok Sabha seat. Girishbab had staked a claim for the Congress ticket given the changing circumstances, including the changing voting dynamics in South Goa. He, however, had taken the stand that he would have no issue if the party nominated a candidate from the minority community for the seat. Sources say Girishbab's support group has tried to impress upon him that any departure from the time-tested norm of fielding a minority candidate may give an armament to the BJP to make political capital out of the situation. Wait and watch.
Vijai vs Sardinha: Cong caught in a double bind
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress had denied the South Goa ticket to the then sitting MP Francisbab Sardinha after many a politician, including then Fatorda MLA Vijaibab Sardesai lobbied with the Congress High Command to nominate Reginaldbab Lourneco for the seat. The Congress lost the seat miserably by a whopping 30,000 votes. A decade later, Vijaibab, heading the Goa Forward Party, has publicly opposed Sardinhbab’s candidature for South Goa. Vijaibab is a pre-poll alliance partner of the Congress party. How would the Congress go about the selection of the candidate? Wait and watch.
Churchill's Kolkata sojourn send observers in a tizzy
When Varca strongman Bab Churchill was spotted at the Kolkata airport earlier this week, many eyebrows were raised over his presence in Mamata Didi’s fiefdom. Take note, Churchillbab along with daughter Valankabai had travelled to Kolkata in the run-up to the 2022 Assembly polls before the duo embraced Mamata Didi’s party, TMC. With the 2024 Lok Sabha polls just a few days away, anxious political observers were on the job to figure out Churchillbab’s presence at the Kolkata airport, before the realisation dawned that the former Minister was returning home after watching a football match of his club Churchill Brothers at Kolkata. Any questions?
Amid objection, CM's proposal on S Goa hospital stumps oppn
What’s the opposition's take on Chief Minister Pramodbab Sawant’s Cabinet decision to set up a private medical college at Margao? In the recent past, the proposal had come under the scanner of opposition parties including the Goa Forward Party and the Congress. In fact, the two parties had raised strong reservations over the private medical college taking shape at the South Goa District Hospital. With the CM saying that the Opposition leaders and other MLAs will be part of the Trust that would have administrative control over the private medical college, wait and watch how the opposition MLAs respond to the Cabinet decision.
