The opposition Congress Party on Monday finalised its first list of 11 candidates for the Decem ber 20 Zilla Panchayat (ZP) elections, even as its discussions on a pre-poll alliance with like-mind ed parties remained unresolved. The Pradesh Election Committee (PEC) met in Panjim on Monday evening but failed to reach a con sensus on whether to for malise an alliance with the Goa Forward Party and the Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP). After the meeting, a PEC member said, “There was no unanimity among members over having a pre-poll alliance with the two parties.” GPCC president Amit Patkar said the party had decided to proceed with constituencies where no disputes exist with po tential alliance partners. “We will soon announce our first list of candi dates, wherever there is no dispute with the other parties. Talks are on over some ZP constituencies that are Congress strong holds,” Patkar said. Meanwhile, the ruling BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) remain the only parties to have an nounced candidates across multiple constituencies. The process for filing nom ination papers opened on Monday, though no nomi nations were submitted on the first day. The deadline for filing nominations is December 9, from 10 am to 1 pm, excluding December 3, a public holiday for the Feast of St Francis Xavier, and Sunday, December 7. The AAP on Monday announced its third list of seven candidates: Di onizia Joyce Fernandes Bittro (Siolim), Maria Cristalina Antao (Chim bel), Ratishma Vishwajit Shirodkar (St Lawrence), Sanjavi Sheshank (Vinay) Velip (Barcem), Tejashwini Gaonkar (Rivona), Shashi kant Velip (Dharbandora) and Adv Samiksha Khol kar (Cola). The party had earlier released a list of 14 candidates on November 17 and another eight on November 21.
In a separate political development, Chief Minister Pra mod Sawant announced that three ZP seats have been al lotted to the MaharashtrawadiGomantak Party (MGP) as part of the continuing seat-sharing arrangement. He also said the BJP would support independent candidates in certain constituencies. “We are supporting independents wherever required, and MGP has been given three seats,” Sawant said. Earlier in the day, BJP candidates whose names were announced on Sunday were briefed by the Chief Minister, State BJP president Damu Naik and two general secretar ies. “The candidates were briefed about rules and regula tions and were given guidance on how to win elections. The remaining candidates will be announced tomorrow (Tuesday), and hopefully it will be the final list,” Sawant added. The BJP had on Sunday released its first list of 19 can didates — 12 for North Goa and seven for South Goa. Goa has a total of 50 ZP constituencies
