The ruling BJP in Goa Monday expressed the hope its ally MGP's leader Dipak Dhavalikar will respect "coalition dharma" and not contest the upcoming bypoll from the Shiroda assembly constituency against its candidate.
The BJP has fielded Subhash Shirodkar from the seat, where voting will take place on April 23.
Dhavalikar, a former MLA, is president of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), a key ally in the BJP- led coalition government in the coastal state.
Dhavalikar, whose brother Sudin is one of the two Deputy Chief Ministers of Goa, has announced he will contest the Shiroda by-election, putting the BJP in a spot of bother.
Goa BJP president Vinay Tendulkar claimed Dhavalikar had assured Nitin Gadkari, the saffron party's in-charge of the state, that he would not contest the Shiroda by-election.
"I am optimistic that Dhavalikar will respect coalition dharma and not contest the upcoming by-election against the official candidate from the Shiroda constituency," he told reporters here.
Tendulkar said during the formation of the government last week under BJP leader Pramod Sawant, after the demise of Manohar Parrikar,Dhavalikar had assured Gadkari he will not contest the Shiroda by-election.
"I don't know what happened next. I was told that Dhavalikar has started his campaigning in the constituency. But I am optimistic that he will not contest," Tendulkar said.
The Shiroda seat fell vacant due to the resignation of Shirodkar, the sitting Congress MLA who joined the BJP in October last year.
Besides Shiroda, two more assembly segments - Mandrem and Mapusa - will have bypolls on April 23, the day when polling for the two Lok Sabha seats in Goa will also be held.
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