Goa Assembly Elections 2022

After initially trailing his nearest Congress rival Dharmesh Saglani, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant now leads by 605 votes from the Sanquelim Assembly seat after four rounds of counting, even as deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar continues to trail his Congress rival Altone D'Costa by 2,800 votes in the Quepem Assembly seat.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar are trailing in their respective constituencies. Sawant is trailing his Congress rival Dharmesh Saglani by 436 votes at the end of the first round of counting in the constituency of Sanquelim in South Goa. Kavlekar is trailing his Congress rival Altone D'Costa by 1,422 votes in the Quepem Assembly constituency.

Former Chief Minister late Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal Parrikar, who is contesting as an independent is also trailing to the Bharatiya Janata Party's Atanasio Monserrate for the contest for the Panaji Assembly seat.

With most exit polls predicting a tough fight between the ruling BJP and the Congress in Goa, the coastal state is bracing for yet another spell of hectic political parleys. With the polling authorities in the state saying that the results may be out as early as 11 a.m., the two main political parties are already reaching out to all possible quarters for support, in case they fall short of numbers.

With exit polls predicting a tight race between the ruing BJP and the Congress in Goa, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party may emerge as an integral part of the government formation process, with the regional party expected to expand its footprint from three seats to between six and nine according to the surveys. The MGP and the Trinamool had a pre-poll alliance for the February 14 polls.

Two days after Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar accused the outgoing BJP-led coalition government of using a private agency to tap phones of its leaders, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday claimed that phones of other leading politicians in Goa, were also under the scanner.