Panaji: National president of the Bharatiya Janata Party J P Nadda on Sunday said that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant will be party’s face for the 2022 assembly elections in the state.
Addressing a press conference in the city on Sunday afternoon in the presence of Sawant, Union Minister of State for Tourism Shripad Naik and state BJP president Sadanand Tanawade, Nadda said that Sawant will be BJP’s face for the assembly polls adding that official declaration will be made by the party’s parliamentary board.
Sawant has done an excellent job by tackling the coronavirus pandemic in Goa, and as such there has been overall development under his leadership, he maintained.
“For now, we are going ahead with him (Sawant),’’ disclosed Nadda, who was on a two-day visit to the state.
“The parliamentary board makes all the announcements… I would not like to make that announcement (on Sawant as BJP’s face). But for now, there is no need to think about any other name,’’ he said, adding that the BJP will outperform its electoral outcome of the 2017 assembly polls.
Sawant has not hampered developmental works in the state while tackling the pandemic, the national president of the BJP said, adding that the Chief Minister and the Centre are seized of the destruction caused by the incessant rainfall in Goa.
Nadda maintained that the Centre will provide support and relief to the rainfall-affected people of the state.
He said that Sawant has implemented various welfare schemes, adding that the Chief Minister embarked upon the ‘Swayampurna Goem’ initiative on the lines of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.
During his Goa visit, Nadda held a series of meetings with ministers, MPs, MLAs, party’s core committee members, mandal presidents and other workers.
Nadda expressed happiness over the BJP’s progress since 2017 in the state, reckoning that the BJP has taken a big leap forward, and is now formidable force in Goa.
“I am very optimistic and happy with the party’s Goa unit and the government. They have done an excellent job, and I should applaud them for their work,’’ he remarked.
When asked about the Pegasus snooping controversy and the consequent bedlam in Parliament, he said that allegations are baseless, remarking that the Congress in the country has been a rudderless boat and its sailors are directionless.
The Congress leaders do not know where they are headed to, Nadda observed.
When asked about the alleged rift within the state BJP, he skirted the question and said that Shripad Naik has been doing well as a Union minister at the Centre.
“Why do you want him (Naik) in Goa for the state-level politics?,” he asked.
He said the Congress MLAs who joined the BJP have assimilated themselves in the party and that they have been happy to leave the Congress.
