Shiv Sena declares candidates for Goa Lok Sabha seats

Shiv Sena leader and MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday announced that his party will be contesting from both the Lok Sabha seats of Goa.

Announcing the names of the two candidates, Raut told media at a media briefing, "Shiv Sena has given tickets to Goa Shiv Sena chief Jitesh Kamat from North Goa and state unit vice president Rakhi Prabhudesai Naik from South Goa."

Goa will be going to polls in the third phase of voting on April 23.

In Maharashtra, BJP-Shiv Sena had last month finalised to contest the upcoming elections jointly. Of the 48 constituencies, BJP will contest on 25 seats and Shiv Sena on 23 seats.

Although both the parties have been in alliance for past several decades, they broke up in 2014 for a brief time just before the legislative elections in Maharashtra. BJP had demanded a larger share of seats which Shiv Sena was unwilling o concede.

Out of 288 legislative seats, BJP won 122 while Shiv Sena managed to win only 63 seats.

Shiv Sena later joined the government headed by BJP Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Even while being a part of the alliance, it repeatedly criticised the central and state governments of which it was a part.

The two parties contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections jointly and won a landslide victory. Out of 48 seats, the BJP-Shiv Sena combined managed to win 41 seats.