Two women among 12 candidates in fray for LS polls in Goa

Twelve candidates, two of them women, are left in the fray for the two Lok Sabha seats in Goa which goes to the polls on April 23.

The tiny state has two Lok Sabha seats - North Goa and South Goa - where a total of 11,35,810 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise.

Monday was the last day for withdrawal of nominations, but none of the candidates who have filed their papers opted out of the race, leaving 12 contestants, six each in the two two Lok Sabha seats, in the fray.

Both seats are currently held by the ruling BJP.

The BJP, the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Shiv Sena, the Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) and Independents are in the fray for the two parliamentary seats.

The BJP has renominated its sitting MPs, Shripad Naik (North Goa) and Narendra Sawaikar (South Goa).

Main opposition the Congress has fielded its state unit president Girish Chodankar in North Goa and former MP Francisco Sardinha from South Goa.

The AAP has fielded its candidates Elvis Gomes and Pradeep Padgaonkar in South Goa and North Goa, respectively.

Two women candidates are also fighting the Lok Sabha polls. Rakhi Naik of the Shiv Sena is contesting from South Goa, while Aishwarya Salgaonkar, an independent, is trying her luck from North Goa.

Meanwhile, 16 candidates are left in the ring for by- elections to three assembly constituencies - Mandrem, Shiroda and Mapusa - where voting will also take place on April 23.

Besides the BJP, the Congress and other parties, the Maharashtrwadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and the Republic Party of India besides Independents are fighting the assembly bypolls.

Among the bypoll-bound assembly seats, seven candidates are in the fray in Mapusa, five in Shiroda and four in Mandrem.

The by-election in Mapusa was necessitated due to the demise of sitting BJP MLA Francis D'Souza. The Shiroda and Mandrem assembly seats fell vacant following the resignation of sitting Congress MLAs Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte, respectively, in October last year.

Shirodkar and Sopte later joined the BJP, which nominated them from their respective constituency.

In Mapusa, the BJP has given ticket to DSouza's son Joshua, whose main rival is Congress's Sudhir Kandolkar.

In Shiroda, MGP president Deepak Dhavlikar is in the fray along with Congresss Mahadev Naik.

In Mandrem, the Congress has fielded its leader Babi Bagkar.