Shiv Sena will contest 22 seats in Goa’s 2022 assembly polls: Sanjay Raut

Party leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said the Shiv Sena will contest 22 seats in the Goa Assembly elections to be held in February next year. He was speaking to reporters on his arrival at Dabolim airport in Goa, where he was warmly received by local Shiv Sena leaders and office-bearers led by the party’s state unit chief Jitest Kamat. Raut’s state visit is aimed at taking stock of the party’s preparations for the upcoming elections. “Goa and Maharashtra share an emotional connection. The way Shiv Sena is ruling Maharashtra, it will also govern Goa.” The party’s Rajya Sabha member said that Shiv Sena will contest 22 seats in the Goa Assembly elections.

At present, the Shiv Sena does not have a single MLA in the 40-member house in Goa. The party contested the 2017 election in alliance with other political outfits such as the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), but failed to win any seats. Shiv Sena had fielded candidates on three seats, but the account could not be opened. The Congress had won the maximum number of 17 seats in the last elections, limiting the BJP to 13. However, to the surprise of the Congress, the saffron party forged an alliance with regional parties and formed the government under senior leader Manohar Parrikar.