Panaji, March 23 Candidates from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, as well as the Opposition Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, filed their nominations on Monday for the upcoming Ponda assembly by-election in Goa.
The BJP has fielded Ritesh Naik, the Congress has given a ticket to Dr Ketan Bhatikar, while the AAP has nominated Gitesh Naik for the April 9 bypoll to the Ponda assembly seat in South Goa district.
The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of the sitting BJP MLA and then Agriculture Minister, Ravi Naik.
The BJP has fielded his son from the seat.
Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant and some members of his cabinet, including Digambar Kamat, accompanied BJP candidate Ritesh Naik as he filed his nomination papers in Ponda.
Speaking to reporters, Sawant said the BJP is confident of winning the Ponda byelection as people have seen the way the state is being developed by the party-led government.
The people of Ponda supported the BJP in 2022 by voting for Ravi Naik, and the same will be repeated this year, he said.
Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao and Congress MLAs Altone D'Costa and Carlos Ferreira accompanied Bhatikar for the filing of his nomination.
AAP candidate Gitesh Naik was accompanied by his party MLAs Venzy Viegas and Cruz Silva as he filed his nomination papers for the bypoll.
