Lok Sabha polls: Industrialist Pallavi Dempo becomes first woman to contest on BJP ticket in Goa

Dempo, the first woman candidate in BJP's poll history in Goa, will contest from South Goa. The South Goa seat is currently represented by Congress leader Francisco Sardinha.

Panaji: Dempo Industries executive director Pallavi Dempo is the first woman candidate in BJP's poll history in Goa who will contest Lok Sabha elections on the party ticket.

The BJP on Sunday declared Dempo's candidature from South Goa in its latest list of 111 candidates for general elections.

A Goan entrepreneur and educationist, Dempo holds a graduate degree in chemistry and a postgraduate degree in business management (MBA) from MIT, Pune.

The 49-year-old entrepreneur oversees the media and real estate arm of Dempo Industries as its executive director. The South Goa seat is currently represented by Congress leader Francisco Sardinha.

The BJP had won this constituency only twice since 1962.

South Goa constituency, spread across 20 assembly segments, had changed hands among the Maharashtravadi Gomantak Party, United Goans Party, and Indian National Congress. The BJP won this seat in the 1999 and 2014 elections but couldn't retain it.

Dempo's husband Shrinivas Dempo is a noted industrialist who heads the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GCCI).

The Dempo family has adopted government high schools under the Rural School Adoption Programme to provide vocational training to girls.

Pallavi Dempo is the president of the Indo-German Educational and Cultural Society which contributes to the cultural enrichment between Germany and Goa.

She is the trustee of Moda Goa Foundation, a fashion and textile museum started by Wendell Rodricks.

She served as a member of the academic council affiliated with Goa University from 2012 to 2016.

Besides being a member of various other organisations, Pallavi Dempo is also part of the managing committee of the Goa Cancer Society and also serves on the core committee of All India Management Association's Women's Council- AIMA Aspire.