Shiv Sena drops plan to contest from North Goa LS seat

Panaji: The Shiv Sena, which had earlier announced that it would contest both the Lok Sabha seats in Goa, has now decided to drop the North Goa constituency from its list and focus only on the South Goa seat. The two Lok Sabha seats in Goa are currently represented by the BJP. Sena's state unit vice president Rakhi Prabhudesai Naik has filed her nomination from South Goa seat, where she is pitted against BJP's Narendra Sawaikar, Congress' Francisco Sardinha and AAP candidate Elvis Gomes. Sena's state unit president Jitesh Kamat had earlier announced that he would contest from North Goa. However, he has now decided not to be in the fray.

Senior Sena leader and MP Sanjay Raut had told reporters last month in Panaji that his party would contest the general elections in Goa. When contacted, Kamat said on Friday that his party has now decided to put its entire strength in South Goa, where Prabhudesai Naik is contesting. "We didn't want our resources to be shared between both the parliamentary constituencies. So, we took a decision to file nomination only in South Goa," he said. Although the Uddhav Thackeray-led party has joined hands with the BJP for the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, it has not done so in Goa. The Shiv Sena has no representation in the Goa Legislative Assembly and has never won any Lok Sabha election in the coastal state. Polling in Goa will be held on April 23.