Goemkarponn Desk
PANAJI: Despite MLAs Digambar Kamat and Ramesh Tawadkar’s reluctance to run for the South Goa Lok Sabha seat, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant stated on Monday that the party’s concerns are paramount and that a “personal view” does not dictate the decision.
Five potential candidates—Digambar Kamat, Ramesh Tawadkar, Chandrakant Kavlekar, Narendra Sawaikar, and Damodar Naik—were submitted by the BJP State unit to the party’s Parliamentary Board for consideration. Tawadkar and Kamat, however, voiced their reservations about the choice.
“There is no such thing as who is interested or not interested in the BJP. As soon as the high command makes a choice, it is crucial. The BJP prioritizes the nation over the party and your own self-interest. They were allowed to voice their opinions, but one must accept that the party will ultimately decide based on winability, according to Sawant.
According to Sawant, the only criterion used to choose the South Goa candidate is winability. He continued, “We are confident that we will win the South Goa seat because the people of the South support Narendra Modi as well.”
The party, which had secured the South seat in 2014, was narrowly defeated in the 2019 polls.
The Chief Minister stated, “It is an open secret…we have to just wait for an official announcement from the party,” in reference to North Goa’s candidacy. The statement alludes to Shirpad Naik’s candidacy, who will run for the seat for a sixth term in a row.
Since 1999, Naik has been the winner of the seat. “The people of North Goa have chosen the BJP for the past five terms, and they will do so until 2024,” he declared.
According to Sawant, the party will probably release the candidate names prior to the dates of the Lok Sabha elections. “In order to give ourselves enough time to reach out to voters, we have asked the party to announce the candidates as soon as possible,” he stated.