BJP candidate Kunkolienkar files nomination for Panaji bypoll

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Former MLA Siddharth Kunkolienkar on Monday filed his nomination as a BJP candidate for by-election to Panaji Assembly seat in Goa.

The bypoll was necessitated following the death of sitting MLA and then chief minister Manohar Parrikar last month.

While earlier there was speculation that the late chief minister's elder son Utpal Parrikar would be given a ticket, the BJP on Sunday announced the candidature of Kunkolienkar for the bypoll, scheduled on May 19.

Before filing his nomination, Kunkolienkar offered prayers at a temple here.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Goa BJP unit president Vinay Tendulkar and other party leaders accompanied Kunkolienkar when he filed the nomination.

Sawant expressed confidence that people would vote for the BJP.

Kunkolienkar first won the Panaji seat during the 2015 by-election.

He again bagged the seat in the 2017 state Assembly polls, but vacated it later that year to make way for then chief minister Manohar Parrikar to be inducted into the House.

The opposition Congress has fielded former state minister Atanasio Monserratte as its candidate for the Panaji Assembly seat, which comprises around 22,000 voters.

In the 2017 state Assembly polls, Monserratte lost to Kuncolienkar from the constituency, which has been a BJP bastion for last 25 years.

Manohar Parrikar kept winning from Panaji since 1994, except twice when the BJP fielded Kunkolienkar, who also won it both the times.