Father-vs-son contest in the offing in Goa’s verdant Poriem

Congress veteran Pratapsingh Rane is being challenged by Viswajit Rane of BJP

The renomination of former Goa Chief Minister and 11-time MLA Pratapsingh Rane by the Congress for the Poriem Assembly constituency has set the stage for a fraught “father versus son” contest in the upcoming Assembly election.

The octogenarian Mr. Rane, who has been the coastal State’s longest serving Chief Minister — holding the post no less than six times for different periods between 1980 and 2007 — has been challenged by his son, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vishwajit Rane, who is State’s Health Minister and the MLA from neighbouring Valpoi constituency, less than 20 km from Poriem.

“I am a sitting member [from the Poriem seat in North Goa] and have been working for the people all these years…A lot more needs to be done, more jobs need to be generated, industry has become stagnant, mining is closed and unemployment has risen sharply during the BJP government’s tenure,” said the 82-year-old Mr. Rane.