Goa: Polling For 40 Seats Progressing Smoothly
Panaji, Feb 14: Polling in Goa to elect representatives at all the 40 seats of the Assembly is progressing smoothly, officials informed on Monday. Till 11 AM, 26.63 per cent voting was reported in the state, Election Commission officials said. Himachal Pradesh Governor Rajendra Arlekar, Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Goa unit President Sadanand Shet Tanavade, Revenue Minister Jennifer Monserrate, Panaji MLA Babush Monsserate, were among the prominent persons who cast their votes in the morning.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant along with his wife Sulakshana Sawant visited Rudreshwar Devasthan, Harvalem, in North Goa and prayed for the well being of Goans. ”Offered prayers at Shree Rudreshwar Devasthan, Harvalem. Prayed for the wellbeing of all Goans,” he tweeted. Later, Dr Sawant cast his vote at Government Primary School Kothambi Pale, Sanquelim, in North Goa. 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.
A 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 set up across the state. Officials informed that some of the polling booths have been beautifully decorated with eco-friendly materials. As the polling date coincides with Valentine’s Day, hoteliers have offered discounts for couples who cast their votes. A poster at a polling booth read ‘voting first, dating later’. The prominent candidates are Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, his cabinet colleagues Deputy Chief Minister Babu Kavlekar, Manohar Azgaonkar (Margao), Mauvin Godinho, Vishwajit Rane, Nilesh Cabral (Curchorem), Jennifer Monserrate, former chief ministers Digambar Kamat, Churchill Alemao, Ravi Naik, Laxmikant Parsekar, former deputy Chief Ministers Vijai Sardesai (GFP) and Sudin Dhavalikar (MGP), AAP’s CM face Amit Paleker.
