Goemkarponn Desk
PANAJI: Following much deliberation, the Congress has chosen to field Captain Viriato Fernandes from South Goa and former Union minister Adv Ramakant Khalap from North Goa in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
At a meeting in New Delhi, the Congress party’s central election committee (CEC) discussed the names of candidates from various states.
Top Congress leaders, including opposition leader Yuri Alemao and state Congress chief Amit Patkar, along with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former UPA convener Sonia Gandhi attended the meeting.
Sitting Congress MP from Goa, Francisco Sardinha has been dropped from the party’s list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
According to the sources, the Congress conducted another survey last week to gauge the mood of the South Goa electorate while also taking into account the opinions of different groups.
In addition to Capt. Fernandes, the names of Alemao, Francisco Sardinha, the current Member of Parliament, and Amit Patkar, the former state Congress president, had been circulating in Congress circles for the South Goa seat for more than a month.
A month ago, Khalap was the front-runner for the North Goa seat, but the allies insisted on having a new candidate. Sunil Kawthankar and Vijay Bhike were also given consideration for the position.
Pallavi Dempo has been nominated by the BJP, and Ruberto Pereira has been nominated by the Revolutionary Goans Party for the South Goa seat. More than a month ago, the BJP selected five-time MP and Union minister Shripad Naik for North Goa, while the RGP put Manoj Parab forward.
Phase 3 of the Lok Sabha elections will take place on May 7 in Goa, according to the schedule released by the Election Commission.
Khalap held positions as opposition leader, deputy chief minister, and cabinet minister during his six terms as a member of the state legislature. On the MGP ticket, he was elected as North Goa MP in 1996 and held the position of Union Minister of Law.
Khalap has been a Congress office-bearer but has not been involved in politics since losing the 2007 assembly elections. Khalap served as the Goa Law Commission’s chairman from 2007 to 2012 while the Congress was in power.
As a candidate for Congress from the Dabolim assembly constituency, Captain Viriato Fernandes ran in the 2022 assembly elections. He has participated actively in environmental and social activism. He is a former officer in the Navy.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc in Goa, which is allied with the Congress, voiced their displeasure a few days ago over the delay in announcing the candidates for the two parliamentary seats.
That being said, leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party, the Goa Forward Party, and the Nationalist Consultative Party.
“He is a leader who has taken up issues for Goa including the coal handling issue, the fishermen’s issues, the issue of double tracking and has been seen wherever people’s protests are there. At a time when we need a strong voice to raise Goa’s issues in parliament we believe Capt Viriato is the right man,” Olencio Simoes, a local Congress leader said.
