AAP to project person from Bhandari community as CM face in Goa polls

Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia on Thursday said they would project a person from the Bhandari community as their chief ministerial face during the Goa assembly elections due early next year.

If the party comes to power in the state, the deputy chief minister will be from the Christian community, Sisodia said at a press conference in Panaji.

The AAP has been increasingly getting acceptance in Goa, with people from all communities rallying behind the Arvind Kejriwal-led party, the deputy CM of Delhi claimed.

He said the Bhandari community, which has a sizeable population in the state, has always been ignored as far as representation in the government is concerned.

In the entire history of Goa, post liberation, only once a Bhandari leader has become the chief minister and that too for a short tenure of two-and-a-half years, Sisodia said without naming anyone.

"We want to give representation to the Bhandari community in the assembly," he said.

Notably, Ravi Naik, hailing from the Bhandari community, had earlier served as the CM of the state.

Sisodia further said Christians will also be given due importance in the cabinet and a person from the community will be appointed as the deputy chief minister, if the party comes to power in the coastal state.

All communities will be given representation in the Goa cabinet if AAP comes to power in the state, he said.

The Christian community comprises about 27 per cent of the state's population.

In the 2017 elections to the 40-member Goa assembly, the AAP ran a high-profile campaign in the state, but did not win a single seat.

At that time, the Congress emerged as the single largest party, but failed to form the government.

The Bharatiya Janata Party then tied-up with regional outfits and independents to form government in the state.