Weeks ahead of the assembly elections in the poll bound state Goa, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, debutants Aam Aadmi Party and TRinamool Congress along with other political parties have made sure not to leave any stones unturned to form their respective governments in the state. While the ruling BJP in the earlier elections faced competion from Congress, Goa Forward Party and a few, but this time the bar has rised with Mamata Banerjee's TMC has made their entry in the state.
The ruling party is also facing challenges from Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party. Furthermore, the Nationalist Congress Party, Goa Forward Party, and Goa Su-Raj Party are also vying for seats. Many MLAs have switched sides before the polls, reducing the strength of the Assembly to 34 seats.
According to the Election Commission of India, Goa will go to the polls on 14 February, with all 40 seats voting on the same date. The last date for filing the nominations for the Goa 2022 polls was 21 January. The results of the election will be announced on 10 March.
Goa will have 1,722 polling stations in the elections. A total of 11,56,762 voters are eligible to cast their ballots in the upcoming polls.
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Ahead of the elections, here's a look at the candidates and constituencies in Goa to watch out for:
Bharatiya Janata Party:
Pramod Sawant:
Current Chief Minister of Goa, Pramod Sawant will contest the elections from the Sanquelim seat. Sawant commenced his electoral journey with a loss in the 2008 by-election to the Pale constituency but managed to win from Sanquelim in the 2012 and 2017 Assembly polls. Notably, Sawant would be the chief ministerial candidate for the saffron party in the crucial assembly election. Sawant assumed the office in 2019 after the unfortunate demise of Parrikar. He was sworn-in as chief minister on March 19, 2019.
Divya Vishwajit Rane:
BJP created history by fielding its first ever woman candidate Dr. Divya Rane in the Poriem constituency which is dubbed as a stronghold of the Congress party for over five decades.Earlier, from this constituency BJP had fielded male candidates against the Congress. Divya's race seems to be easier as her father-in-law and Senior Congress leader and former Goa chief minister Pratapsingh Rane will not contest from the same seat against his daughter-in-law Divya Rane. Dr. Divya Rane is confident of winning this seat and to prove her mettle she is rigorously connecting with the people of Poriem through her corner meetings and door-to-door campaigns for the last two months.
Manohar Ajgaonkar:
Deputy Chief Minister Manohar 'Babu' Ajgaonkar who was said to be contesting elections from Pernem has been fielded from Margao constituency by the BJP. Manohar Ajgaonkar has been a legislator from the Congress as well as the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), but his political journey gained momentum after joining the BJP in 2019. Under which when he left MGP and joined BJP in 2019, he was made Deputy Chief Minister in BJP's Goa government.
Atanasio Monserrate:
Fielded by the BJP from capital city, Panaji, Monserrate has been in politics since 2002, and has cultivated a following for himself in at least four out of five seats in the Tiswadi taluka, which Panaji comes under.
The MLA, who has a long list of criminal cases against him that includes a rape charge, stayed away from Panaji till Manohar Parrikar was contesting the seat. The late Parrikar had held the seat for the BJP since 1994. Monserrate, an entrepreneur with interests in real estate and hospitality, was legislator for the Taleigao constituency next to Panaji in the Tiswadi taluka in 2002 and 2007. After the 2002 polls, he was also a minister in the Manohar Parrikar-led cabinet briefly.
Congress:
Digambar Kamat:
Digambar Kamat does not need any introduction in Goa politics. In the 2022 elections, Digambar Kamat is considered the leading face of the Congress and will be contesing elections from Margao constituency. Dingbar Kamat started his political journey from the Congress but he has also been in the BJP for a long time. Under this political journey, he has become a legislator on the ticket of Congress as well as BJP. However, his political identity grew in the Congress under which he became the Chief Minister of Goa from 2007 to 2012, while he is currently the Leader of the Opposition in the Goa Assembly.
Elvis Gomes:
Congress has fielded Gomes from capital city Panaji against BJP's Atanasio “Babush” Monserrate. Gomes, who quit the civil service to join the Aam Aadmi Party ahead of the 2017 assembly elections, joined the Congress in December 2020, claiming the AAP no longer represented the ideals it was set up for. Elvis' name was released in the final list of Congress party's candidates. Notably, Gomes has served as the former commissioner of CCP and has also nurtured ties in the state capital when he served as the director for municipal administration.
Dharmesh Saglani:
Dharmesh Saglani has been fielded from the Sanquelim seat by the Congress pitting him against CM Pramod Sawant. It will be a tough time ousting him since Sanquelim has been the stronghold of the Goa CM.
Trinamool Congress:
Seoula Vas:
Former Goa chief minister Luizinho Faleiro and a Congress leader once, backed out from the race to contest the upcoming Goa assembly elections. Faleiro, who was named by the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) on January 18 as the party candidate from Fatorda constituency against Goa Forward supremo Vijai Sardesai. However, the TMC has named a young lawyer Seoula Avilia Vas as his replacement.
Mahesh Amonkar:
Municipal councillor Mahesh Amonkar is the Trinamool Congress Party candidate for the Margao Assembly seat. Amonkar has promised to resolve the burning issue of parking, burial grounds for the Muslim community, restore the Margao Municipal garden to its pristine glory and usher in the development of the city as per the needs of the citizens.
Independent candidates:
Utpal Parrikar:
Denied ticket from Panaji, Utpal Parrikar, former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s son quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and decided to contest as an independent candidate from the capital city. The younger Parrikar will contest the February 14 assembly elections in the state from Panaji, his late father’s constituency. However, he added that he is ready to withdraw from the race if the saffron party fields a “good candidate” from the constituency.
The ruling BJP nominated sitting MLA Atanasio Monserrate from Panaji – which Manohar Parrikar had represented for over two decades. Monserrate is one of ten legislators who had joined the saffron party in July 2019 after quitting the Congress.
Parrikar also claimed that denying a ticket to him is similar to the situation in 1994, when attempts were made to throw his father out of the party. “The one who has been witness to the history will understand what I am saying. It was the time when the BJP was trying to establish itself in areas where the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) was prominent,” he said.
Laxmikant Parsekar:
Goa's former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Laxmikant Parsekar, who was denied ticket by the party quit the ruling saffron party. Parsekar, who is contesting as an independent candidate has filed his nomination from Mandrem constituency. The senior leader disassociated with the ruling party after 32 years to chart new course. BJP has announced its sitting MLA Dayanand Sopte as its candidate from the constituency.
Earlier, he was the three-term MLA and former state BJP president, who has represented the Mandrem constituency in North Goa since 2002 until his defeat in 2017 has said that he was taken for granted by the party and ignored in favor of a non-performing MLA.
Parsekar was the BJP's manifesto committee for the upcoming Goa elections and also a member of the party's core committee.
