Image Courtesy:indiatoday.in
It’s counting day and after five rounds of counting out of the total nine rounds scheduled to take place, the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appears to be in the lead, though the Indian National Congress (Congress) is not far behind. Political pundits have predicted a hung Assembly, even as the two main players are neck-and-neck in the coastal state.
As per data available on the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) official website at 11 A.M, BJP is leading in 18 out of the total 40 seats in the Goa Assembly. It is also trailing in around 12 seats. Meanwhile, the Congress is leading in 11 seats and is trailing in another 11 seats. Another party in the fray is the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), which is backed by Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC). The MGP is leading in 4 seats. Independents follow with a lead in 4 seats while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Goa Forward Party (GFP) lead in one seat each. AAP is also trailing in 1 seat.
As per trends, BJP crossed the halfway mark by 10 A.M as opposed to exit polls that reported Goa would have a hung Assembly. News reports also pointed to the Congress’s pre-poll alliance with the GFP. The BJP and AAP had chosen to go solo, while the TMC ventured into the western Indian state by backing the MGP, although this reality may change as per NDTV reports on Thursday.
At the time of going to press, in Sanquelim, the incumbent Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant’s constituency, Congress candidate Dharmesh Saglani was leading with a narrow margin of 317 votes.
The tiny western state has a large Christian population and reported growing Hindutva activity in recent years. As per the ECI voter turnout app Goa reported 81.15 percent voter turnout in North Goa, and 78.27 percent voter turnout in South Goa. Both the areas went to polls on the same day – February 14.
Like Goa, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand show BJP leading at present, but Punjab shows a clean sweep for AAP.
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