MUMBAI: The BJP scored a hattrick in Goa by winning 20 seats out of the 40 in the Assembly election. The magic figure to form the government is 21. Three independent candidates have extended their support to the BJP.
BJP’s Goa in-charge Devendra Fadnavis claimed the party has got a support letter from Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party which has two MLAs.
“We currently have the support of a total of 25 MLAs and many more may support us during the floor test,” he said.
The 2022 election was the first that the BJP fought in the absence of Manohar Parrikar.
In Goa, it was often touted that without Parrikar, it would be difficult for BJP to win power.
However, CM Dr Pramod Sawant has shown that he can lead the party. This is evident from the fact that Parrikar’s son Utpal who revolted against the party, lost against the BJP candidate by 650 votes in Panaji.
In 2017, BJP’s vote share was 32.5 per cent. This time, its vote share marginally increased by two per cent. Kishor Goankar Naik, the editor of Goan Varta, said the BJP kept its vote share intact while the opposition votes got fragmented.
“The scattered Opposition helped the BJP win 20 seats in a multi-corner fight. TMC, AAP, Revolutinary Goamantak Party (RGP), etc., were contesting on all 40 seats and all of them took significant numbers of votes that cost the opposition parties heavily. On the other hand, BJP has a strong organisation network and well-oiled machinery to get votes on the ground,” Naik said.
BJP's Goa election in-charge Devendra Fadnavis said a decision on staking claim to form the government will be taken on Friday after a meeting of the party's legislature wing.
He made the remarks at a press conference in the presence of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Goa BJP president Sadanand Tanavade, Union Minister Shripad Naik and other party leaders.
Fadnavis said the MGP has formally given a letter to the BJP extending its support to the party in government formation.
"Both the winning candidates of the MGP will support the BJP along with the three Independent MLAs," he said.
He said the party's central parliamentary board will meet in New Delhi late on Thursday to discuss the results of all the states, where polls were held in February-March.
"The committee will designate an observer for Goa, who will arrive here tomorrow to participate in the legislature party wing meeting," Fadnavis said.
After the meeting, the party will decide the date to meet the Governor and stake claim for government formation, the former Maharashtra CM said.
Fadanavis said that BJP's central leadership will be participating in the swearing-in ceremonies of all the four states due to which the dates would be decided accordingly.
The Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) chief ministerial candidate in Goa, Amit Palekar, on Thursday lost the Assembly poll battle with the Congress snatching the seat from the BJP.
Palekar, a lawyer-turned-politician, was declared the party's CM face ahead of the February 14 state election.
He was in the fray from St Cruz assembly segment.
Congress candidate Rudolfo Fernandes defeated his closest rival and BJP candidate Antonio Fernandes from the seat.
Fernandes was a sitting MLA of the constituency.
While the Congress candidate polled 8,841 votes, BJP's Fernandes bagged 6,377 votes.
Palekar got 4,098 votes.
AAP candidate Capt Venzy Viegas defeated Trinamool Congress's (TMC) Churchill Alemao in Benaulim assembly constituency, while the Kejriwal-led party's Cruz Silva is leading from Velim segment.
Both these seats are in South Goa.
The AAP had fielded candidates from 39 out of the total 40 seats in the state.
Both Deputy Chief Ministers of Goa lost Assembly elections to their nearest Congress rivals on Thursday though their party BJP is on course to emerge as the single largest political formation in the state.
Deputy Chief Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar was defeated by Leader of Opposition and Congress candidate Digambar Kamat by a huge margin of almost 6,000 votes in the Margao Assembly constituency.
Ajgaonkar, who had been traditionally contesting from Pernem in North Goa, was this time fielded by the BJP from Margao in South Goa.
Margao has been represented in the Assembly by Kamat, a former chief minister, since 1994.
The second Deputy Chief Minister in the Pramod Sawant-led cabinet, Chandrakant Kavlekar, lost to Congress candidate Altone D'Costa in Quepem.
Kavlekar had won from Quepem in 2017 on a Congress ticket.
He shifted to the BJP in 2019 along with nine other Congress MLAs and was rewarded with the Deputy CM's post.
D'Costa, a first-time contestant from the constituency, defeated Kavlekar by a margin of more than 3,000 votes.
Voting for the 40-member Goa Assembly took place on February 14 and counting was taken up on Thursday.
BJP leader Vishwajit Rane on Thursday said the people of Goa have rejected "power-hungry outsiders".
Rane won from Valpoi assembly constituency while his party had won at least 20 seats by evening after counting of votes for Assembly elections began.
"This is a victory of prime minister Narendra Modi, party president J P Nadda, Union home minister Amit Shah and all BJP leaders including our state leaders," Rane told reporters here.
The BJP worked as a team due to which the victory was possible, he added.
Without naming the Aam Aadmi Party and Trinamool Congress, Rane said "power-hungry" outsiders tried to mislead the people of Goa but the voters rejected them.
The AAP has won two seats.
However, there was some contention between Atanasio Monserratte and BJP, as the former who won from Panaji assembly constituency on the saffron party's ticket, on Thursday said it was his victory and not that of the party.
Monserratte, who defeated Independent candidate Utpal Parrikar by 674 votes, also claimed that the party did not support him.
"This is not a victory of the party. This is my victory. The party did not stand with me, it never did any damage control," said Monserratte, who crossed over to the BJP from Congress only in 2019.
The BJP cadres in Panaji did not accept him but the people of Panaji stood by him, he said.
Utpal Parrikar contested the election on his own after the BJP refused him ticket from Panaji which his late father and former chief minister Manohar Parrikar had represented in the past.
The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC), which contested the Goa Assembly elections for the first time this year, failed to make a mark in the coastal state.
As per the latest data of the Election Commission of India (ECI), the TMC was not leading in any seat in Goa, where counting of votes was underway on Thursday.
The TMC's key candidates, including Goa party chief Kiran Kandolkar, his wife Kavita Kandolkar, party nominee Churchill Alemao (who quit the NCP to join the TMC) and his daughter Valanka were trailing in their respective constituencies.
"We accept this mandate with all humility. We commit ourselves to work harder to earn the trust and love of every Goenkar. No matter how long it takes, we will be here and we will continue to serve the people of Goa," the TMC's Goa unit said on its Twitter handle.
The TMC candidates were on second and third positions in a few constituencies.
It took a plunge into Goa's electoral politics a few months before the polls, held on February 14, and contested in 26 seats in alliance with the MGP, the state's oldest regional outfit.
Kiran Kandolkar last month claimed that their political consultant I-PAC abandoned the party candidates after the state Assembly polls.
The TMC's Goa unit chief had said he was upset with I-PAC head Prashant Kishor.
(With PTI Inputs)