JOIN USSeventeen sitting MLAs and two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) defectors figure in the first list of 22 candidates for Goa announced by the Congress on Saturday.
Prominent among those renominated are Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, Speaker Pratapsingh Rane and his son Vishwajit, the Alemao brothers Churchill and Joaquim and Home Minister Ravi Naik.
The only woman MLA in the Assembly, Victoria Fernandes, has been edged out to accommodate the demands of controversial minister Atanasio alias Babush Monserrate. Monserrate will now contest from Santa Cruz, with his wife Jennifer expected to be named in the second list for the Taleigao constituency, from where he has been elected thrice.
Congress spokesman Mauvin Godinho said the Congress will contest 33 (out of 40) seats, leaving seven to the Nationalist Congress Party. The Congress’s second list of 11 nominees could be out by Sunday.
A please-all policy underlines the Congress strategy for Goa in this election.
Two outgoing BJP legislators — MLAs Dayanand Sopte and Rajesh Patnekar— who switched allegiance a few weeks ago have been given Congress ticket to please the Ranes who have political clout in at least five constituencies in North Goa.
A dark horse nominee on the Congress list is the capital’s mayor Yatin Parekh who has been brought into the fray to take on BJP leader and former chief minister Manohar Parrikar in Panaji. Stuck for a reasonably strong candidate to challenge Parrikar, the Congress expects Monserrate, who controls the Panaji municipality, to put his weight behind Parekh.
While Churchill Alemao and his brother Joaquim will recontest their South Goa seats Navelim and Cuncolim, Churchill’s daughter Valanka who started her campaign in Benaulim months ago is expected to figure in the Congress’s second list. Churchill Alemao had parted ways with the Congress in 2007 after his daughter was denied a ticket.
Two other Congress MLAs Pandurang Madkaikar and Reginaldo Lourenco do not figure in the first list with negotiations still on for better candidates.
The fury over mining and the Income Tax investigations that have linked Monserrate to kickbacks over land conversions have had little bearing on the Congress list with “winnability” as the principle criterion for selection. Joaquim Alemao and PCC president Subhash Shirodkar who have mining links have got Congress ticket again, as has Kamat.
The Congress said it was still hopeful of reaching an electoral accord with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party which has kept the BJP guessing over the prospects of a saffron alliance.