Team Herald
PANJIM: Union Minister of State for AYUSH and four-time MP from North Goa Shripad Naik filed his nomination for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on Friday.
Accompanied by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Water Resources Minister Vinod Paliencar, Ports Minister Jayesh Salgaonkar and BJP State Unit President Vinay Tendulkar; Naik first took the blessings of Goddess Mahalaxmi before walking to the Returning Officer R Menaka to file his nomination papers.
Speaking to reporters thereafter, Naik expressed confidence about his victory for a continuous fifth time by a margin higher than the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
“I am confident about my victory. I am confident to win by a margin more than the 2014 Lok Sabha elections,” he said. The union minister had won by a victory margin of over 1 lakh votes.
Replying to a question on whether the mining issue would affect voting in favour of the BJP, Naik said the BJP-led government both at the Centre and in Goa has been making every effort to resolve the issue. “Due to technical issue, it has not come to any solution as yet, but we are still working on it for a solution. We are concerned about every mining dependent and the people of North Goa. We are trying our best to resolve the issue,” he said.
