BJP bets on Sawant over Shripad Naik for CM in Goa 2022 polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party national president J.P. Nadda said that Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is likely to be the face of the party for 2022 state Assembly polls, not Union Minister of state for Tourism and Ports Shripad Naik.

Panaji: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and not Union Minister of state for Tourism and Ports Shripad Naik -- an MP from Goa -- may be the face of the party for the 2022 state Assembly polls, BJP national president J.P. Nadda hinted on Sunday.

Nadda, however, said that the final decision on the selection of the party's leader for the polls would be taken by the Bharatiya Janata Party's national parliamentary board, the political outfit's highest decision-making body.

"Pramod Sawant has done a good job. There has been all-round development under Pramod Sawant's leadership. We are moving ahead with his leadership," Nadda said.

The top BJP leader, however, said that such a decision is declared by the party's deciding authority, the parliamentary board. When asked about the demands made by some party leaders to appoint Union Minister of State Shripad Naik, who is a Lok Sabha MP from North Goa, as the party's face for the 2022 polls, Nadda said that the Union Minister was doing a "very good job" in Delhi.

"He is doing a very good job in Delhi and he is taking care of things... Everybody has an interest, but the interest has to be taken care of by the party. He (Naik) has been assigned a job in Delhi, which he is doing very well," Nadda said.

Sawant assumed charge as the Chief Minister of Goa in 2019, following the death of former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar following a prolonged battle with pancreatic cancer.

IANS