Bharatiya Janata Party As per the trends emerging from the counting of votes, three independent candidates have claimed support, who are leading in their respective seats.
Three candidates – Chandrakant Shetty, Alex Reginaldo and Antonio Vaz – are leading from Cortalim, Bicholim and Curtorim respectively.
According to official figures, the BJP is currently leading in 19 seats, just one less than half, while the Congress is leading in 12 seats.
Exuding confidence, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is ready to form the government in the state.
BJP will meet Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai on Thursday evening and stake claim to form the government.
Talking to reporters today, Sawant said, “The credit for this victory goes to the party workers…BJP will form the government in Goa.”
Chief Minister and BJP candidate Pramod Sawant once again retained the Sankelim constituency by defeating Congress candidate Dharmesh Sagalani by a margin of over 650 votes. Sawant said he has sought appointment of Goa Governor to stake claim to form the next government.
BJP candidate Praveen Arlekar has won from Pernem seat.
BJP candidate Joshua D’Souza won from Mapusa constituency. He defeated Congress candidate Sudhir Kandolkar.
BJP candidate Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate won the coveted Panaji seat by defeating former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s son and independent candidate Utpal Parrikar by a margin of 700 votes.
Talking to reporters today, Utpal Parrikar said, “As an independent candidate, it was a good fight, I thank the people. I am satisfied with the fight but the result is a bit disappointing.”
Goa Forward Party President Vijay Sardesai has won from Fatorda constituency by a margin of 1,300 votes.
With voters predicting a hung assembly, leaders of the BJP and Congress in Goa will keep a close eye on the popular verdict to assess their chances of forming the government in the state.
The Congress, which is also hopeful of forming the government, has asked its candidates to stay in a resort to prevent any attempts at “poaching”. Party leaders in Goa are understood to be in touch with state leaders of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to “prevent the BJP from returning to power” in the state.
The BJP contested all 40 seats in the state, while the Goa Forward Party (GFP) entered into a pre-poll alliance with the Congress. The TMC had an alliance with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party for the elections.
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