LS polls: AAP confident of improved show in Goa

Panaji: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which drew a blank in the 2017 Goa Assembly polls, is now trying its luck in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the state where it has fielded its candidates on both the parliamentary seats.

The task would not be easy for the Arvind Kejriwal-led party as it faces a tough challenge from the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress in the coastal state.

Also Read: AAP announces 6 candidates for Delhi LS seats, puts up Raghav Chadha from South Delhi  

Also Read | Suspended AAP leader Harinder Singh Khalsa joins BJP

However, AAP's South Goa Lok Sabha seat nominee Elvis Gomes, a former bureaucrat, said he was confident that people will vote for his party this time. AAP's general secretary Pradeep Padgaonkar, who is contesting from North Goa Lok Sabha seat, said he was banking on the state's youth to vote for the party.

"Our party can provide good governance to people of Goa," he said.

Both the Lok Sabha seats in Goa are currently held by the BJP.  During the Assembly polls two years back, the AAP fielded 39 candidates for the 40-member House.

All the candidates then lost the election and 38 of them, including Gomes and Padgaonkar, also had to forfeit their deposits. Unfazed by the past, the party is now focusing particularly on the South Goa Lok Sabha constituency, where Catholics account for nearly 37 per cent of the population.

Also Read | Goa sees maximum voters going for NOTA

Also Read: AAP will fight Lok Sabha polls on its own, says Arvind Kejriwal

There are nearly 11 lakh voters in the state. The BJP has fielded its sitting MPs Shripad Naik and Narendra Sawaikar from the North Goa and South Goa seats, respectively.

The Congress has nominated its state chief Girish Chodankar from North Goa and former MP Francisco Sardinha from South Goa.

• #Aam Aadmi Party
• #AAP
• #elections
• #Lok Sabha elections
• #bjp
• #Goa
• #parliamentary seats