Shiv Sena to contest 22 seats in next year's Goa Assembly polls: Sanjay Raut

PANAJI: The Shiv Sena would contest 22 seats in the Goa Assembly elections due in February next year, party leader Sanjay Raut said on Wednesday.

He was talking to reporters on his arrival at the Dabolim airport in Goa, where he was given a warm welcome by local Shiv Sena leaders and functionaries led by party's state unit chief Jitest Kamat.

Raut's visit to the state is aimed at taking stock of the party's preparedness for the upcoming polls.

"Goa and Maharashtra share an emotional relationship. The way Sena is ruling Maharashtra, it will rule Goa as well," the party's Rajya Sabha member said The Shiv Sena will contest 22 seats in Goa Assembly election, he added.

At present, the Sena does not have even a single legislator in the 40-member House in Goa.

The party had fought the 2017 election in alliance with other political outfits, like the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), but failed to win any seat.

The Sena had fielded candidates from three seats, but could not open its account.

The Congress had won the highest 17 seats, restricting the BJP to 13 in the last polls.

However, surprising the Congress, the saffron party allied with regional parties and formed government under the leadership of senior leader Manohar Parrikar.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has already thrown its hat in the ring ahead of the polls, with the party's national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announcing free power up to 300 units per month and 80 per cent jobs for locals if his party is voted to power during his recent visit to Panaji.

On Saturday, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O'Brien had told PTI that the party will be contesting the upcoming Assembly polls and they were in touch with several local leaders.