RS polls: Goa BJP chief Sadanand Shet Tanavade files nomination; Oppn to not field candidate

Panaji: Bharatiya Janata Party's Goa unit president Sadanand Shet Tanavade on Tuesday filed his nomination papers for the election to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from the coastal state.

Tanavade is set to be elected 'unanimously' without a contest, as all Opposition parties in Goa jointly resolved to not field any candidate against the BJP nominee.

Tanavade filed his nomination papers before Returning Officer Namrata Ulman at the Goa Assembly complex in the presence of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and other MLAs.

The BJP and its allies have 33 MLAs in the 40-member Goa Assembly. The opposition Congress has three MLAs, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has two members, and the Goa Forward Party and the Revolutionary Goans Party have one legislator each.

The opposition parties held a marathon meeting and issued a common statement signed by all the seven MLAs on Tuesday evening.

The statement said the Opposition, as a “political strategy”, has decided not to field any candidate for the Rajya Sabha election in the interest of Goa.

The Congress, AAP, Revolutionary Goans Party and the Goa Forward Party are the signatories to the statement.

Tanavade has been holding the charge as the party's Goa unit president since January 2020.

The Rajya Sabha elections are scheduled for July 24.

BJP's Vinay Tendulkar is currently a member of the Upper House of Parliament from Goa and his term is expiring this month-end.

“I am thankful to BJP president J P Nadda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP general secretary B L Santhosh, Goa Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant and my party for giving me this opportunity,” Tanavade said after filling the form.

He claimed all MLAs of the BJP and supporting parties were present during the filing of the nomination.

Earlier in the day, Aam Aadmi Party's Goa president Amit Palekar had said his party will not field its candidate for the Rajya Sabha poll as it does not have the required numbers and it will also not participate in the election process.

“We don't want to waste the precious time of the Assembly. We don't appreciate that. We will contest the Rajya Sabha election whenever we have numbers in the Goa Assembly,” Palekar told reporters.