PANJIM: Five candidates of the 34 candidates declared by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to contest the 2022 Goa Assembly elections, have serious non-bailable criminal cases registered against them.
Of the five, two of them are Cabinet Ministers in the Sawant government.
If convicted, they could face jail term of five years or more.
These candidates are former Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude (Priol), Health Minister Vishwajit Rane (Valpoi), Revenue Minister Jennifer Monserrate (Taleigao), Panjim MLA Atanasio Monserrate (Panjim), and Tivim MLA Nilkanth Halarnkar.
Gaude is facing maximum three cases while, Atanasio Monserrate, Rane and Halarnkar have two cases each and Jennifer Monserrate has one case against her.
The cases pertain to alleged murder, rape, kidnapping, corruption etc.
