Goa election 2022: Arvind Kejriwal names advocate Amit Palekar as AAP's CM candidate for polls

AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday named senior advocate and social worker Amit Palekar as AAP's chief ministerial candidate for upcoming Assembly elections in Goa. Kejriwal made the announcement during a press briefing in Panaji, Goa.Lincoln Vaz (Margao), Nonu Naik (Priol), Gabriel Fernandes (Curchorem), Raul Pereira (Quepem) and Manoj Ghadi Amonkar (Sanquelim) were some of the prominent names featuring in AAP's candidate list.Palekar is an advocate by profession and comes from the Bhandari community. His recent hunger strike to save old Goa's heritage site where an illegal construction was being built, gained a lot of traction, tipping the scales in his favour. As his health deteriorated during the strike, Kejriwal had praised his courage saying, "Seeing Palekar's indefinite hunger strike and the kind of support he has been receiving from Goans, finally the government was forced to cave in".Lashing out at those who called Palekar's hunger strike a political stunt, Kejriwal said, "On one side, people are backing Palekar, and on the other, politicians have derided it as a political stunt. Horse trading in Goan politics has taken Goa to a very low point and has started a revolution in Goa. Good times are ahead in the state."As per Goan Chronicle, Palekar was known for intervening in the oxygen shortage crisis in the state during the second COVID-19 wave that led to an investigation into the BJP-led state government's response. He is a well-known face with the residents of StCruz and his mother has been Merces Sarpanch for 10 years. The Aam Aadmi Party will contest on all 40 Assembly seats in Goa against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party-Shiv Sena alliance.Goa will go to the polls on 14 February and the counting of votes will take place on 10 March. AAP has already announced its chief ministerial candidate for the assembly elections in Punjab and Uttarakhand.The party failed to win a single seat in the 2017 Assembly elections despite running an ambitious campaign.Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.