the goan I network
VASCO
In an unusual political twist, Dr Kalidas Vaingankar and Aishwarya Salgaonkar, both candidates filed earlier by Niz Goenkar Revolution Front (NGRF) will now contest the Lok Sabha elections as independent candidates.
According to sources, the core committee members of NGRF are embroiled in a dispute, with two rival groups forming a committee and each claiming to officially represent the party.
While one group had earlier expelled Sanjay Redkar and Suresh Barve from the party, the other group claimed that the secretary had no right to remove the president and the matter is still pending before the Election Commission.
Sources said that one group of NGRF office bearers had signed the Form A and Form B of NGRF and appointed Vaingankar and Salgaonkar. However, the other group in the core committee raised an objection and finally, the Election Commission decided that both candidates could not contest on NGRF ticket since the matter of the core committee is under dispute.
When contacted, Sanjay Redkar, who claimed he was still president of NGRF and had raised an objection, said he had informed the public that Chandrashekar Vast, Prashant Vast and Ramesh Tamonkar were suspended from the party a few months ago.
“As acting president, I had objected to the signatories on Form A and Form B as we did not allot any forms to the candidates who filled the nominations on NGRF.”
“The objections were raised before the Election Commission of India in Delhi, which was accepted at the very last moment and the candidates were disallowed from using the party’s name. However, they were allowed to contest elections as independent candidates since the forms were valid. The NGRF will always stand by the people of Goa and Goans,” said Redkar.
Countering Redkar’s allegations, Chandrashekar Vasta of NGRF said an objection was raised by former president Sanjay Redkar and vice president Suresh Barve against the candidates fielded by NGRF for the first time in the Lok Sabha polls.
Vasta also demanded the ECI convene an urgent hearing to settle the dispute so that matter can be resolved.
“We had filed a complaint against Redkar and Barve before the ECI and said we had expelled them from the party around 4 months ago. However, the ECI accepted their objections.”
“It was our mistake to make them president and vice-president of NGRF. We will still stand by our candidates and our Karyakartas are all over Goa and we at NGRF will support our candidates.”
“I also feel that national political parties have pressurized the ECI to take action against this regional party because we would comment on them on various issues. It’s for the people to choose the right candidate,” said Vasta.
