Fighting election on local and national issues: Girish Chodankar

PANAJI

: Congress candidate for the North Goa

Lok Sabha

2019 election,

Girish Chodankar

, filed his nomination papers on Monday before North Goa collector R Menaka, with strong hopes of thwarting a fifth consecutive term for BJP's Shripad Naik, who is Union Ayush minister.


Chodankar, who is also the state Congress president, is counting on the mining crisis and unemployment concerns to guide him to his first taste of electoral success.

Chodankar submitted three sets of nomination papers, proposed by former chief minister Pratapsingh Rane, Tivim MLA Nilkanth Halarnkar and Taleigao MLA Jennifer Monserrate.

Panaji block president Prasad Amonkar will be the Congress party's backup candidate in the event that Chodankar's documents do not pass scrutiny.

"Right now, we are fighting the election on the issues at the local level as well as issues at the national level," Chodankar said.

"Nationalism is good, but this government has to show what it has concretely done in the last five years. BJP made some promises to the people, but what has happened to those promises?" Chodankar said.

Congress said it was confident of wresting control over the North Goa parliamentary seat, one which Naik has held for 20 years.

Naik won the 2014 Lok Sabha elections with a margin of over 1 lakh votes.

"The present North Goa MP has been here for 20 years so we want to discuss what he has done for Goa. At this time, I want to assure Goans that I will give Goans, the common man, a voice in Parliament," the 52-year-old said.

Asked what issues Congress would focus on during the campaign, Congress leaders said the closure of mining operations and the rising unemployment would be focus areas.

They also plan to highlight the Centre's move to dilute the norms surrounding development along India's coastline. Social activists and fishermen have objected to the 2019 Coastal Regulation Zone notification.

"Because of the closure of the mining industry in the state, numerous people have lost their jobs. They have taken loans and everything has come to a standstill. We will take up all these issues. This is a dynamic state, a fast growing state, but now the economy has stagnated," said Rane. The Poriem MLA was present with Chodankar while the latter submitted his nomination papers.

A teacher by profession, Chodankar has never contested parliamentary elections and stood against former chief minister Manohar Parrikar in the 2017 assembly byelections.