Not a single Congress MLA in Goa will defect this time: Chodankar

Panaji, July 12 Savaged repeatedly over the departure of 13 MLAs to the BJP since the 2017 Assembly polls, Goa Congress President Girish Chodankar on Monday said that the party had tweaked its candidate selection procedure to ensure that not a single elected MLA would be poached by rival parties after the 2022 polls.

Addressing a press conference, Chodankar also said that 75 to 80 per cent of the poll tickets would be given to "young, new faces".

"Not a single MLA will break this time round. We have changed our selection process to that effect," he said, without elaborating further. Elections to the state Assembly are scheduled to be held in early 2022.

Asked about the possibility of the party fielding new faces in the upcoming polls, Chodankar said: "75 to 80 per cent young, new faces will be fielded in this election."

He also said that the party was confident of winning "23 to 24" seats in the upcoming polls.

The Goa Assembly comprises of 40 MLAs, with a simple majority mark of 21.

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