BJP to contest 43 seats in zilla panchayat polls: Goa CM Pramod Sawant

PANAJI/SALIGAO: On Tuesday, BJP announced its third list of eight candidates, and MGP announced its second list of three candidates for the zilla panchayat elections. The last day for the filing of nomination papers is March 5.
Speaking to mediapersons, BJP state president Sadanand Shet Tanavade listed out the names of the eight candidates— six from South Goa and two from North Goa.
In South Goa, BJP named Shramesh Bhosle for the Betki-Khandola ZP seat, Shivram Naik for Veling-Priol, Sanjana Velip for Guirdolim, Suresh Kepekar for Rivona, Shobhana Velip for Poinguinim and Anita Thorat for Sancoale.
In North Goa, the party will field Diksha Kanolkar for Sirsaim and Shruti Ghatwal for Latambarce.
Chief minister Pramod Sawant told reporters that BJP would contest 43 seats out of the total 50.
“We are confident of winning the ZP polls in both districts. None of the recent issues will have an impact on our win— the people of Goa will vote for BJP as they trust the party wholly,” Sawant said. BJP has until now announced 39 candidates in total—23 in North Goa and 16 in the South.
A large number of BJP workers on Monday rallied behind Aldona BJP ZP candidate Manisha Naik after she came to file her nomination papers at the deptuy collector's office at Mapusa. Naik is currently the deputy Sarpanch of Bastora village panchayat and the president of the Aldona Mahila mandal.
Meanwhile, MGP will field Shailesh Naik for Kumbharjua and Pravin Vaigankar for Harmal, and Vinda Sawant will contest the Darbandora seat. The party has decided to contest 19 seats, and has already announced the names of 15 candidates.