Congress to announce names of candidates for upcoming Goa assembly polls

Congress will announce on January 10 the names of its candidates for the upcoming Goa assembly polls and also inform whether it would go for a pre-poll alliance with any party, a senior party office-bearer said on Thursday.

The names of the candidates are being finalised during the marathon meetings of the party’s screening committee currently underway in Delhi. Party’s senior leaders are also considering whether to go for an alliance with like-minded forces in the state or not.

“The screening committee of the party is holding marathon meetings in Delhi for the last two days to finalise the candidates. The names would be announced on January 10, a day after the last meeting of the panel,” All India Congress Committee (AICC) Secretary Girish Chodankar told PTI on Thursday.

He said the screening committee will forward names to the Central Election Committee, which will make a formal announcement.

Chodankar said talks are also on whether to have forge a pre-poll alliance with like-minded parties or not. “Even as far as decision on alliance is concerned, it would be made on January 10,” he added.

The state-level committee had forwarded several names from all the 40 constituencies to the screening committee, who are aspiring to contest the upcoming polls.

Congress, which had won nine seats during the 2012 assembly polls in Goa, saw two of its legislators Pandurang Madkaikar and Mauvin Godinho- resigning from the party, while Atanasio Monserratte was expelled last year due to “anti-party activities”.

The Congress currently has six legislators in the state legislative assembly.

Sources said the screening committee has cleared the candidature of all the six sitting legislators along with four other names in four different constituencies, who aspired to get the party ticket.

“Wherever there were names of only one aspirant, they have been cleared by the party. Goa Congress chief Luizinho Faleiro’s name has also been cleared to contest from Navelim constituency,” another senior party office-bearer said.

Assembly elections for the 40 seats in Goa will be held on February 4.