PANAJI
Former Fatorda MLA Damu Naik is poised to succeed Sadanand Shet Tanavade as the BJP's State President.
Naik was the only candidate to file his nomination papers on Friday, that saw the presence of BJP National General Secretary Sunil Bansal, who chaired the election process. Naik, a Bhandari community leader, will be officially announced as the new president on Saturday.
Sources revealed that the BJP high command had communicated its preference for Naik after which the State party unanimously decided to support his candidature. Other leaders whose names were under consideration and submitted to the party high command included ex-ministers Dayanand Mandrekar, Dilip Parulekar and Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar, ex-South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar former MLA Dayanand Sopte and senior leader Govind Parvatkar.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and other senior leaders present at the nomination process refrained from commenting. Health Minister Vishwajit Rane stated the party's collective approach. “We are all loyal, and the direction of the party is final,” was his only comment to the entire election process.
Naik also avoided direct remarks but expressed his willingness to take on any responsibility assigned by the party. “BJP is the world’s largest party with 15 crore members in India and 4.5 lakh members in Goa. The party always prioritizes the nation, then the organization and individual,” Naik said, adding that his focus would be to strengthen the party in Goa.
Outgoing President Sadanand Shet Tanavade, meanwhile, revealed that three BJP leaders – Dilip Parulekar (ex-minister), Vasudev Gaonkar (ex-MLA) and Suvarna Tendulkar (ex-South Goa Zilla Panchayat Chairperson) – have been nominated as national council members. They will participate in the election for the BJP National President which will also include votes from Goa.
