Congress candidate Atanasio Monserratte Friday filed his nomination for the next month's bypoll in the Panaji Assembly constituency.
Monserratte, accompanied by Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar and other Congress functionaries, submitted his nomination papers to the District Returning officer here.
The former state minister is the first candidate to file the nomination for the May 19 by-election to the Panaji seat, which fell vacant due to the death of sitting MLA and then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on March 17.
Talking to reporters, Kavlekar said the Congress is confident of wresting the seat from the BJP.
"People are supporting the Congress party in a big way and you will see the impact even in the Panaji by-poll," he said.
Monserratte, who was vice-president of the Goa Forward Party, resigned from the regional outfit to join the Congress earlier this month.
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The BJP is yet to announce its candidate for the Panaji constituency.
The ruling party has shortlisted two names for the seat - Utpal (38), the elder son of late Parrikar, and former MLA Siddharth Kunkolienkar - and is yet to take a final call on their candidature, a party leader had said Thursday.
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