Goa bypolls 2017: AAP ducks out of election, will not to field candidates for Panaji, Valpoi

Panaji: The Aam Aadmi Party’s Goa unit on Thursday said it will not contest the upcoming by-elections to the state assembly. Calling it a “politically prudent” move, it said that the party had taken the decision in order to not confuse the electorate. [caption id=“attachment_3408094” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] “AAP Goa after a great deal of brainstorming has decided that it would be politically prudent for us to refrain from contesting the by-elections, rather than further confusing the electorate,” it said in a statement issued in Panaji. “AAP Goa is convinced, however, that the people of Panaji and Valpoi will firmly reject the politics of opportunism, deceit and treachery played out by the current dispensation, which is foisting an unnecessary election at great expense to the public exchequer, only to compel a desired outcome,” it said. Two assembly constituencies will go to by-polls on 23 August. They include Panaji from where Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is currently a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh, is contesting. All India Congress Committee Secretary Girish Chodankar also will file his nomination on Friday for the Panaji seat. The other by-election will be held in Valpoi assembly constituency, where Health Minister Vishwajit Rane is contesting. He was elected in the February assembly elections on a Congress ticket but subsequently resigned to join the BJP. The AAP has also said that its alternative brand of politics was not endorsed by the Goan electorate in the February 2017 polls and that it is preparing at the grassroots level for the next general elections. “Unfortunately, the Aam Aadmi Party ideals were not recognised by the Goan electorate in the 2017 assembly polls and as such the party failed to win the trust of the people. Since then, AAP has been working hard to re-organise and rebuild the party at the grassroots level so as to be battle ready for the next big challenge of the general election,” the statement said.