PANJIM: After some hiccups and setbacks, the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) and Congress Legislative Party (CLP) approved the names of All India Congress Committee (AICC) Secretary Girish Chodankar and Ponda MLA Ravi Naik’s son Roy as candidates for the Panjim and Valpoi assembly by-elections. The names have been sent to the party high command and its clearance is awaited before the final announcement.
Chodankar, a former President of the Youth Congress and GPCC General Secretary, will take on Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar in Panjim, while Roy will battle it out against Health Minister Vishwajit Rane in Valpoi. While BJP has held on to Panjim for over two decades, Rane, a former Congress MLA, has won Valpoi by huge margins in the past.
Speaking to Herald, GPCC President Shantaram Naik, confirmed that two names have been sent to AICC for approval but refused to disclose them. He said the high command’s approval is expected by Wednesday morning. “Once AICC approval comes we will announce the names,” he said.
CLP sources confirmed that Chodankar and Roy have been finalised for the by-polls. “For Valpoi, Roy’s name was finalised long back. But in Panjim we were facing difficulties in getting a capable and winnable candidate against the Chief Minister. After much discussion, Girish Chodankar’s name was approved,” sources said.
Since the elections, Chodankar has been the most vocal Congress leader taking on the BJP-led coalition government. He was away from State politics for a long period after being elevated as AICC Secretary. He was appointed as a helping hand to the then Goa desk in-charge Digvijay Singh for the February 2017 Assembly elections. Since, then he has been attached to the State Congress.
Congress was struggling to find a candidate to field against Parrikar, after their former member Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate, who was supposed to be their Panjim candidate, switched sides and joined Goa Forward Party, which is a member of the ruling coalition. The national party suffered another setback after former BJP Panjim Mayor Ashok Naik declined their offer of a ticket.
On the other hand, Roy, who was denied a ticket in 2012 Assembly elections, was embroiled in a major controversy surrounding the politician-police-drug peddler nexus in 2010.
The nomination process for the by-election has begun and Rane filed his nomination papers on Tuesday. Parrikar will be filing his nomination on Wednesday morning. The nomination process concludes on August 5.
