By the look of it, Goa appears to have dropped out of the Congress scion Rahul Gandhi’s political purity and probity radar.
A former Goa Chief Minister, who was indicted for his alleged link to the drug mafia by a legislative committee and the mother of a drugged, raped and murdered UK teenager, is tipped to be the Congress candidate for the North Goa seat, one of the two parliamentary seats up for grabs in the tiny State. Controversial Ravi Naik’s candidature is virtually sealed. Party leaders close to Naik informed that he has been going on record since Wednesday that he will win North Goa, “because all the MlAs are backing me”.
Earlier this month, Naik was also booked for a job scam in the Animal Husbandry Department. Congress spokesperson Vijay Bhike told The Pioneer that Naik’s nomination as the party candidate for north Goa was “almost final” and also defended his candidature despite the allegations and taint. “Except for the job scam complaint which was filed by the Government as a political vendetta, there is no complaint against Naik,” Bhike said.