Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday announced Amit Palekar as the party’s chief minister face for Goa.
Palekar, an advocate, had made news in December after he staged an indefinite hunger strike to protest against illegal construction at a heritage site in Old Goa. Kejriwal had praised Palekar’s “courage" and said that the strike marked the "beginning of Goa's political cleansing".
On Sunday, Kejriwal had said the people of Goa now had a choice of a new political alternative. “They didn't have any choice except BJP/Congress earlier, they want a change and are frustrated,” he said. He added that if AAP came to power in Goa, each family could save up to Rs 2 lakh annually and “up to Rs 10 lakh” directly in five years on account of schemes such as “free electricity, water, education and health care.”
Besides the traditional contestants such as the BJP, Congress, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), and the Goa Forward Party, Mamata Banerjee-led TMC is the new entrant in Goa politics. In the 2017 assembly polls for the 40-member Goa Assembly, AAP had drawn a blank.
In the previous polls, the Congress had emerged as the single-largest party in Goa as it won 17 seats in the 40-member House. However, it failed to form the government after the BJP, which bagged 13, allied with some independents and regional parties to form the government under Manohar Parrikar who passed away in 2019. BJP's Pramod Sawant is the incumbent chief minister.
The Congress has already announced its pre-poll alliance with the GFP, while the TMC has a tie-up with the MGP.
Goa is set to go to polls on February 14.
-with PTI inputs
