NT NETWORK
PANAJI
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar will announce the ruling side candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls from Goa on Wednesday before he leaves for the United States on a personal visit.
Sources in the BJP said on Tuesday that the party has almost decided to propose the name of state party president Vinay Tendulkar as the candidate for the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Goa. However, Parrikar said that the party is still in the process of shortlisting the names and is discussing the matter with its coalition partners Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, Goa Forward Party and Independent legislators.
Parrikar said that he would announce the name of the candidate from the ruling side on Wednesday before he leaves for the United States on a six-day personal visit to that country. “I will announce the name of the candidate for the Rajya Sabha election by Wednesday afternoon. The process of shortlisting the names of candidates is on by consulting coalition partners,” he said adding that by Wednesday they would recommend the names to the Parliamentary Board of the party.
The election to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Goa is scheduled to be held on July 21, for which the process of filing nomination began on July 4 and the last date is July 11.
Meanwhile, the leader of opposition Chandrakant ‘Babu’ Kavlekar has said that during his official visit to the office of Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on Tuesday, there was no discussion on the ensuing election to the lone Rajya Sabha seat for Goa. However, he said that the Congress party will soon declare its candidate after a brief discussion in the party at the state level and at the Centre.
“We will soon call a meeting of the Congress Legislative Party, GPCC president and other office bearers and finalise the candidate for the Rajya Sabha election and send the names to the party high command, which will be the final authority to approve the name and declare the same,” said Kavlekar.
He said that the Congress party will also reach out to other political parties and hold talks for their support to have the magic number in order to win the election.