BJP broker peace with Union Minister Shripad Naik's son, appoints him state general secretary

Union Minister Shripad Naik's son and Corlim ZP member Siddesh Naik, who was denied a BJP ticket from the Cumbharjua constituency, on Friday has decided to pull out from the race and declared support to the sitting MLA and BJP candidate Pandurang Madkaikar's wife Janita.

This comes after BJP managed to broker peace with Siddesh Naik and appointed him as the state secretary and in charge of Vasco constituency.

Earlier, Naik had threatened to contest as an independent and defeat BJP candidate. He also held a meeting with his supports in Corlim in this regard.

In the 2017 Goa Elections, Pandurang Madkaikar had won the Cumbarjua seat by a margin of 9,000 votes. However, this time BJP has fielded his wife on health grounds.

On January 20, BJP released the first list of 24 candidates. The party's had similarly excluded Utpal Parrikar, former chief minister late Manohar Parrikar's son. Utpal Parrikar subsequently quit the BJP and announced that he would contest from Panaji as an independent.

The second list also featured Antonio Fernandes who would contest from his current St Cruz seat, while Joseph Sequeira, who joined the BJP on Tuesday, was fielded from Calangute. Antonio Barbosa will contest from Curtorim while Narayan Naik will contest from Cortalim.

The election for the 40 seats will take place on February 14, and the ballots will be counted on March 10.