Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday sounded the poll bugle for Goa when it announced the first list of four candidates for the Goa Assembly elections.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday sounded the poll bugle for Goa when it announced the first list of four candidates for the Goa Assembly elections due in March 2017.
AAP has already announced that it will contest all the 40 constituencies in the coastal state. Top AAP leaders from Delhi including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain have campaigned in the state for the polls. [caption id=“attachment_2592786” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]![Representational image. Reuters]()
Representational image. Reuters[/caption] While one of the candidates will contest from the constituency earlier held by Manohar Parrikar, another one was the Shiv Sena Goa chief until he left the party and joined AAP. Here is what you need to know about the four candidates: Valmiki Naik is the AAP state convener who will contest from the Panaji constituency, earlier held by Parrikar. BJP legislator Siddharth Kuncolienkar currently represents the constituency, which is a traditional bastion of the BJP. In July, when Parrikar visited Naik’s house to meet his ailing father Datta Naik, who has been associated with BJP leaders in Goa through the 1980s and 90s, Opposition parties like the Congress had alleged that “Parrikar’s visit to Naik’s house ostensibly to meet his ailing father clearly shows there is a secret deal between the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party”, IANS had reported. Ajit Singh Rane is the former Shiv Sena Goa chief. He joined AAP in August and will contest from Mayem constituency in North Goa, which is currently represented by BJP legislator and Goa Assembly Speaker Anant Shet. Rane is a labour union leader and has been at the forefront of various agitations in the state, the most recent one being a protest by drivers of trucks operating in iron ore mines who were demanding compensation for loss faced due the long ban on the industry in Goa. Molu Velip, a former aide of BJP state minister Mahadev Naik, has been announced as AAP’s candidate from Shiroda constituency in South Goa. He comes from the tribal community, reported
GoaNews. “Molu is a grassroot worker who has built a team from the scratch. AAP willalways honour such honest workers,” the report quoted Advocate Surel Tilve, a member of the party screening committee, as saying. The party also announced candidature of Cruz Silva, a businessman from Velim constituency, which is currently represented by Independent legislator Benjamin Silva. Cruz Silva, a former Ambelim sarpanch, joined the party in April. According to
The Goan, Cruz had sympathised with the AAP during a meeting with the party at Chinchinim a few months before April. With inputs from agencies
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