Oscar defends Congress fielding kin as candidates in Goa

Senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes said "elective merit" had played a major role in the party’s decision to field family members of ministers.

The AICC general secretary who heads the party’s screening committee for Goa is having a hard time justifying the allotment of 12 tickets to five Congress families, an issue that has made the party vulnerable to scathing attack from the BJP. To the Congress’ dismay, the saffron party’s massive ad campaign-“Five families, 12 candidates, 40 constituencies. Goa does not belong to these five families”-has been picking up momentum of late.

Fernandes further said the young Congress candidates from the political families had earned the tickets by working towards the development of their constituencies. This apart, the party wants to carry forward the political legacy of these families, he said.

Pratapsingh Rane, Ravi Naik, Babush Monserrate and Pandurang Madkaikar have got two Congress nominations each within the family while Churchill Alemao got four.