$## % !"# $%$' ()*+(,- $%.$' $ ' +(,- $%.$', '- -' . &'()*+, '(/+0 " 0 / " 1 "0 ! " # ""#$!#% %#%#% " 0 #&#%%# $ 23 45 6$'7'(# '' $..%$( )% !"! # $" %& '($)*(+ , R ! R " the GFP both have 3 MLAs politician. strength now is 36 after Parrikar on Sunday, and res- Earlier, even as Parrikar’s ## each they hold the key to any The Congress is currently Parrikar’s death. ignations of two Congress funeral procession was on, the JP MLA Pramod Sawant Government formation. the single largest party in the The strength of the House MLAs Subhash Shirodkar and Congress yet again staked an Bwas on Monday named as “We have managed to con- State with 14 MLAs. The BJP has reduced due to demise of Dayanand Sopte last year. The abortive claim to form a the new Goa Chief Minister vince the alliance partners and has 12 legislators in the 40- BJP MLA Francis D’Souza ear- NCP has one MLA in the Government in the coastal after party bigwigs, including finalised the formula of two member Assembly, whose lier this year, and Assembly. State. he speculation for alliance president Amit Shah and Deputy Chief Ministers for Tbetween the Aam Aadmi Union Transport Minister the State,” a senior BJP func- Party (AAP) and the Congress Nitin Gadkari, could bring tionary said. came to an end after AAP’s about a consensus on his name Parrikar was heading a Delhi convener Gopal Rai on by making the other claimants coalition Government com- Monday made it clear that to the post from the alliance prising the BJP, three MLAs there would neither be any partners agreeable to his can- each of the GFP, the MGP and alliance with the Congress nor didature, according to sources. three Independents. a rollback of any of its candi- Sawant was the Speaker of Shah said it will be hard to dates in the national Capital. the Goa Assembly. fill the void left by Manohar The statement came a day Swant’s name was cleared Parrikar even as reports sug- after the AAP declared its can- hours after late Chief Minister gested that two MGP MLAs didate for the seventh Lok Manohar Parrikar’s funeral cer- could switch over to the BJP to Sabha seat in Delhi. Asserting The Congress is confused and emony, also attended by Prime increase its number in the that “enough is enough”, Rai everyone is giving different Minister Narendra Modi, con- Assembly from 12 to 14. said these are the final seven statements,” Rai said. cluded at Goa’s Capital Panaji. Sawant has been a promi- candidates of the party and The ruling AAP had earli- Sawant will be assisted by nent presence in Goa’s political there is no question of “any roll er on March 2 announced the two Deputy Chief Ministers — scene since Parrikar’s illness back”. names of its candidates for the Goa Forward Party (GFP)chief was announced in October Rai said despite facing stiff six Lok Sabha seats. Vijai Sardesai and 2018. In February, the BJP opposition from its workers, The AAP declared its sev- Maharashtrawadi Gomantak leader had updated the public the party was open to an enth candidate for West Delhi Party (MGP) MLA Sudin about the State of Parrikar’s alliance with the Congress in Lok Sabha seats on Sunday. Dhavalikar. Interestingly, the health, after the CM was admit- Delhi but after waiting for so The party insiders said the two who have now been ted to AIIMS in Delhi. long and constantly hearing name of Balbir Singh “accommodated” had earlier Sawant represents the conflicting statements from Jhakhar was announced after staked their claim to the top Sanquelim constituency and is the party, we have decided the recalcitrant attitude of the post in the State. an Ayurveda practitioner by that now even if the Congress Congress leadership towards There was no Deputy CM profession. He was close to approaches us, there will be no forging an alliance in the post in place when Parrikar was Parrikar, who was understood alliance in Delhi. national Capital. CM. But since the MGP and to have groomed him as a He also said there has been The other six AAP candi- no communication from the dates are Atishi from East Congress and it clearly shows Delhi, Guggan Singh from that the grand old party is “not North-West Delhi, Raghav ! serious” about elections in Chadha from South, " # ! $ Delhi. “AAP will fight the Lok Dilip Pandey from North-East, *+ " " % & Sabha polls on the issue of full Pankaj Gupta from Chandni ' Statehood and it is ‘late now’ for Chowk and Brijesh Goyal from R Monday asked the Congress Dal (RLD) alliance. ( %) talks on an alliance in Delhi. New Delhi seat. not to “spread confusion” and “The Congress is free to said the alliance was capable of field its candidates on all the 80 defeating the BJP on its own. seats in UP alone. In other Hours later BSP’s poll ally words, our alliance (of SP- Samajwadi Party (SP) the SP BSP-RLD) is capable enough of too echoed Mayawati’s view. In defeating the BJP. a tweet, SP president Akhilesh The Congress should Yadav said, “In Uttar Pradesh, refrain from spreading confu- Q R the SP, BSP and RLD alliance sion about leaving seven seats is capable of defeating the BJP. tweets made it clear that the for the (SP-BSP-RLD) alliance,” The Congress party need not party will not enter into any Mayawati tweeted. spread any kind of confusion.” alliance with the Congress. Mayawati also said, day after the Congress said Mayawati even dared the On Sunday, the Congress “The BSP would like to make Ait was leaving seven Lok Congress to go ahead and field announced that it was leaving it clear once again that there is Sabha seats for the SP-BSP- candidates in all the 80 Lok seven Lok Sabha seats in the no alliance or understanding RLD combine in Uttar Pradesh, Sabha seats in the State. state for the SP, Bahujan Samaj with the Congress in UP and BSP supremo Mayawati on The BSP chief in a series of Party (BSP) and Rashtriya Lok anywhere in the country.” $ " n an hilarious turn of events Iduring the boat campaign by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Monday, ! " # a boat carrying media persons and some Congress leaders ran aground at Manaya ghat of " Allahabad from where Priyanka started sailing to reach Varanasi. As media persons reached the Manaiya Ghat, they saw just one steamer all decked up for Priyanka, and no arrangement for another boat to carry them along to cover Priyanka’s poll ! " #, compaign. - The drama started as soon . %) as Priyanka — who reached the ghat around 11.30 am — got her, and they all jumped into middle of the river it ran onto her steamer. There was no the boat. The boat was soon aground in low water there. room for the media. stuffed beyond its capacity and And it could not budge an However, as soon her boat became unstable. On boat- inch from there. started sailing, media persons man’s frantic instruction, some Following which, a boat and some other Congress people aboard had to get off. was called in to take the stuck found another boat following But as the boat reached the journalists back to the pier. or the first time, Biju Janata FDal (BJD) supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik (/0!12 would contest from two Assembly constituencies in the Prasanna Acharya (Bargarh) Randhari (Dabugaon), Padmini elections next month. Sunita Biswal (Sundargarh), Dian (Kotpad) and Patnaik’s name figured in Pramila Bisoi (Aska) Purna Chanda Baka under the the first list of BJD candidates and Kalikesh Singh Deo Nabarangpupr LS; announced by him on Monday. (Balangir). Dushmanta Naik While retaining his four- As per his earlier (Bhawanipatna), Bhupinder time-old Hinjili seat in his iju Janata Dal (BJD) supre- announcement, Patnaik has Singh (Narla), Dibya Sankar native Ganjam district, he Bmo and Chief Minister chosen women candidates in Mishra (Junagarh), Mausudi would also be the party candi- Naveen Patnaik on Monday 33 per cent of the nine LS seats. Bag (Dharmagarh), Rajendra date from Bijepur in Bargarh announced the party’s first list Koraput and Sundargah have Dholakia (Nuapada) and district of western Odisha. of candidates for nine out of 21 got women candidates. Lambodhar Nial Patnaik had on Sunday Lok Sabha and 54 out of 147 The candidates who would (Khariar) under the Kalahandi been urged by several BJD Assembly seats. be in the first phase poll fray LS and Bikram Keshari leaders of the western region to Incidentally, the BJD is the include Jagannath Saraka Panda (Berhamapur), Dr offer himself as a candidate in first among the parties to come (Bissam Cuttack), Raghunath Pradeep Kumar Panigrahy their area apparently to meet a out with poll candidates’ lists. Gomango (Gunupur), Lal (Gopalpur), Surjya Narayan challenge the BJP and the The nine Lok Sabha can- Bihari Himirika (Rayagada), Patro (Digapahandi), Usha Congress may give to the State’s didates include Chandra Raghuram Padal (Koraput), Devi (Chikiti), Subash Chandra ruling party in the region. Sekhar Sahu (Berhampur), Prabhu Jani (Laxmipur) and Behera (Chhatrapur), Kalyani Sources said that in the Kousalya Hikaka (Koraput), Rabi Narayan Nanda (Jeypore) Gajapathi (Paralakhemundi) event of winning both the Achyuta Samanta under the Koraput LS; and Purnabasi Nayak (Mohana) seats, Patnaik would retain (Kandhamal), Puspendra Singh Sadashiva Pradhani under the Berhampur Bijepur, leaving Hinjili for a by- Deo (Kalahandi), Ramesh (Nabarangpur), Subash Gond Parliamentary constituency. election Chandra Majhi (Nabarangpur), (Umarkote), Manohar Continued on page 4 ""#$!#%($#) *#%+,-./+, ## 1) 0 % -.# / ' & ' 00 "$% ' $&' &$%()*'* 4 ( !"#P Bimal Charan Das are loyalists of ,.2 3# Pradhan for which they are continuing posted in the same post for years.