Panaji, Feb 14 : Polling began in Goa to elect representatives at all the 40 seats of the Assembly. The polling, which started at 7 am, will continue till 6 pm. According to the Election Commission officials, polling is being held at 1,722 polling stations in South Goa and North Goa districts. This time 80 more polling stations have been added for the single-day balloting, compared to the 2017 Assembly elections.
total of 11.6 lakh electorates are eligible to decide the electoral fate of 301 candidates, including 14 women. The electorate include 9,590 persons with disabilities (PwDs), 2,997 over 80 years, 41 sex workers and nine transgenders. The average number of eligible voters per booth in the state is 672. The Vasco Assembly constituency has the highest number of 35,139 eligible voters, while the Mormugao seat has the lowest number of voters at 19,958. This time there are 105 all-women polling booths, also known as pink booths.
There are eight Ministers of the Sawant government, who are also trying their luck in this phase. These include Chief Minister Pramod Sawant (Sankhali), Deputy Chief Minister Babu Kavlekar (Quepem), Manohar Azgaonkar (Margao), Mauvin Godinho (Dabolim), Vishwajit Rane (Valpoi ), Nilesh Cabral (Curchorem) and Jennifer Monserrate. The four Ministers, who had resigned recently, are also trying their luck. They are Deepak Pauskar, contesting as an Independent from Savordem constituency, Govind Gaude (BJP) from Priol, Michael Lobo (Congress) from Calangute and Filip Neri Rodrigues (NCP) from Velim constituency.
Deputy Speaker Isodore Fernandes is contesting as an independent from Canacona constituency. The other prominent leaders contesting the elections are Leader of the Opposition Digambar Kamat (Congress), former Chief Ministers Churchill Alemao (TMC), Ravi Naik (BJP), former deputy Chief Ministers Vijai Sardesai (GFP) and Sudin Dhavalikar (MGP), AAP’s CM face Amit Paleker. Of the 40 seats for which polling is being held, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 13 seats, Congress 17, MGP 3, GFP 3 and independents 3 and NCP 1 in 2017. In South Goa, Congress is expecting to do better, while BJP may have the upper hand in North Goa.
However, former minister Michael Lobo joining Congress may hit the prospects of the ruling party to some extent. Trinamool Congress too has made its entry in the electoral fray in the coastal state. The Revolutionary Goans, Goencho Swabhimaan Party, Jai Mahabharat Party and Sambhaji Brigade, are the other parties, trying their luck. There are 68 independent candidates. To breach BJP’s fort in the coastal state, Congress has forged an alliance with the Goa Forward Party (GFP) while Trinamool Congress (TMC) has tied up with Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP). In the last Assembly elections, MGP had contested in alliance with Shiv Sena and former Rashtriya Swayamsweak Sangh (RSS) Goa chief Subhash Velingkar-led Goa Surakhsha Manch (GSM). However, only MGP could manage to win three seats and GSM and SS could not open their accounts. Though there are multiple candidates, there is a face to face contest between BJP and BJP on around 15 seats, triangular in another 7 constituencies and quadrangular fight on five seats.
From the trends of election campaign coming out so far and the challenge being posed by Congress-GFP alliance, it is being speculated that repeating the results of 2017 assembly polls will not be an easy task for the BJP and may be this is the reason that the party is contesting all the 40 constituencies for the first time. BJP is also facing rebels, mainly in Panaji and Mandrem constituencies. While former Chief Minister Laxmikant Pareskar is contesting as an independent candidate in Mandrem constituency, former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal Parrikar has thrown a challenge in Panaji constituency. Parrikar had represented Panaji constituency for close to 25 years. On the other hand, Congress, severely criticised for being unable to keep its flocks together, has fielded new faces in most of the constituencies. Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat is the lone sitting MLA candidate who is contesting the assembly elections on Congress’ ticket.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is testing its luck for the second time, while Trinamool Congress (AITC) is contesting the Assembly elections for the first time and both are being seen as a challenge to the BJP and Congress. Both Congress and BJP leaders have claimed that the fight is only between the two national parties. Shiv Sena has forged an alliance with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). While Shiv Sena has fielded 9 candidates, NCP is contesting 12 constituencies. The alliance has extended support to Utpal Parrikar in Panaji constituency.
