Goa assembly polls 2022: BJP may not contest from two Christian-dominated seats
The two seats are Benaulim and Nuvem that are represented by Churchill Alemao and Wilfred D'Sa. Assembly election is slated to be held on February 14.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely field its candidates in 38 of the 40 Assembly seats in Goa for the February 14 election.
A PTI report, quoting a senior party functionary, said the saffron party will not contest from two Christian-dominated constituencies, namely Benaulim and Nuvem, that have traditionally elected candidates fielded on symbols of other parties barring the BJP.
At present, Benaulim is represented by Churchill Alemao, who after getting elected on a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ticket last time, shifted to the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) last month.
Nuvem constituency is represented by Wilfred D'Sa, who had won the last election as a Congress candidate, but later joined the ruling BJP.
“A formal announcement about the candidates would be made after January 16 when the party's parliamentary board approves the list," the office-bearer said.
The BJP has been holding meetings of its core committee to finalise the names of the candidates. Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadanavis, who is the party's in-charge for Goa elections, has been chairing meetings attended by the BJP's state unit president Sadanand Shet Tanavade and chief minister Pramod Sawant, among others.
On Thursday, Sawant had told reporters that BJP functionaries will visit Delhi on January 15 to hold a meeting with the top brass, while the party's parliamentary board will finalise the names of candidates the next day.
Apart from the BJP and the Congress, several other parties, including the TMC and Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), have joined the election battle in the coastal state in a bid to expand their political base.
(With agency inputs)
