PANAJI: Ahead of Lok Sabha elections scheduled to be held on May 7, in a surprising statement, Union minister for state and BJP’s North Goa Lok Sabha candidate Shripad Naik on Monday said that he won’t contest the Lok Sabha elections in 2029.
“Next Lok Sabha election party will have a new candidate to contest the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. Before anyone questions why I should be considered to contest the seventh time Lok Sabha election, I have already decided to not contest the next Lok Sabha election and the party should identify a new candidate,” Naik said.
Naik who is five-time MP from North Goa and a Bhandari community leader, was named in the first list of 195 candidates after the central election committee chaired by PM Narendra Modi cleared the names. Naik was among the four names proposed by the party’s state unit. The others were former MLAs — Dilip Parulekar, Dayanand Sopte and Dayanand Mandrekar — all from the OBC category.
“I will work to nurture the new candidate for the next Lok Sabha and that is the reason I have taken this decision. There has been a question raised about the reason behind selecting the same candidate. We have young leadership and youths have to be given an opportunity. We should willingly step back instead of saying no to new leadership and there will be no question of saying no to them,” Naik said.
He said that there was no anti-incumbency for him in North Goa, otherwise the ticket would have been denied to him.
“People of North Goa have always supported and elected me,” Naik said.
“Next Lok Sabha election party will have a new candidate to contest the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. Before anyone questions why I should be considered to contest the seventh time Lok Sabha election, I have already decided to not contest the next Lok Sabha election and the party should identify a new candidate,” Naik said.
Naik who is five-time MP from North Goa and a Bhandari community leader, was named in the first list of 195 candidates after the central election committee chaired by PM Narendra Modi cleared the names. Naik was among the four names proposed by the party’s state unit. The others were former MLAs — Dilip Parulekar, Dayanand Sopte and Dayanand Mandrekar — all from the OBC category.
“I will work to nurture the new candidate for the next Lok Sabha and that is the reason I have taken this decision. There has been a question raised about the reason behind selecting the same candidate. We have young leadership and youths have to be given an opportunity. We should willingly step back instead of saying no to new leadership and there will be no question of saying no to them,” Naik said.
He said that there was no anti-incumbency for him in North Goa, otherwise the ticket would have been denied to him.
“People of North Goa have always supported and elected me,” Naik said.
