NT NETWORK
PANAJI
The name of state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party Vinay Tendulkar has been forwarded to the BJP Parliamentary Board as party’s candidate for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha election as member from Goa after getting consent from the coalition partners Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, Goa Forward Party and Independent legislators.
Tendulkar, speaking to ‘The Navhind Times’ on Wednesday said that his name was finalised after Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar concluded his talks on Wednesday afternoon with MGP, GFP and Independents.
“The BJP as well as the alliance partners unanimously agreed on my name,” he said. “We are awaiting the clearance from the central BJP leadership, and then would officially announce the name of the candidate,” Tendulkar said.
MGP leader Ramkrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavlikar, PWD Minister, said that his party has supported the candidature of Tendulkar for Rajya Sabha seat. “I congratulate Tendulkar for being nominated as candidate for Rajya Sabha seat from Goa. BJP has taken cognisance of his contribution for the party. He is the man who had sacrificed cabinet berth in the interest of the party in 2004,” Dhavlikar said.
Goa Forward Party leader and Town and Country Minister Vijai Sardesai said that as a coalition partner in the government, his party has supported decision of the Chief Minister of nominating Tendulkar as candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat.
“We have no role in selecting BJP’s candidate for Rajya Sabha seat. They (BJP) have been following their own criteria in selecting candidates. However, GFP is coalition partner with BJP in the government,” he said, adding that one should not forget that his party is instrumental in making Parrikar the Chief Minister. “Hence we have decided to support the choice of Chief Minister,” he said.
The election for the lone Rajya Sabha member from Goa will be held on July 21, while the last date for filing of the nomination for this election is July 11.
The current strength of the 40-member state legislative assembly has been reduced to 38 following the resignations of a BJP MLA Sidharth Kunkalienkar and a Congress MLA Vishwajit Rane. The BJP has 12 members, the Congress 16, the MGP and the GFP 3 each, and the Nationalist Congress party one, besides three Independent legislators who are supporting the BJP.
Tendulkar has been the state BJP president for more than five years. He had taken over the post in 2012, after the then state party president Laxmikant Parsekar vacated the post to join the state cabinet as the health minister. Tendulkar was also a minister in the earlier Manohar Parrikar government.