No one can defeat alliance candidate: MGP

Ponda: Citing some examples of winning candidates at the parliamentary and recent zilla panchayat elections, power minister Ramkrishna Sudin Dhavalikar said no one can defeat a candidate where there is an alliance between his Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was referring to the upcoming Ponda assembly seat bypolls. He said the BJP-led govt in Goa has 13 alliance MLAs and “no one can raise their heads in these constituencies”.

While Ritesh Naik, late Ponda legislator Ravi Naik’s son, is the BJP candidate supported by MGP, Ketan Bhatikar who had earlier left MGP is now the Congress candidate.

Commenting on Ketan Bhatikar’s recent statement where he claimed he has ‘blessings’ of Dhavalikar, the MGP minister without naming Bhatikar said that he cannot support a person who has left the party.

Dhavalikar was addressing the party activists after inauguration of BJP candidate Ritesh Ravi Naik’s campaign office at Sadar Ponda on Friday evening. BJP state president Damu Naik inaugurated the office in presence of candidate Ritesh Naik, Dhavalikar, WRD minister Subhash Shirodkar, former minister Govind Gaude, former member of parliament (South Goa) and others.