Tight race in CM Pramod Sawant’s constituency in Goa Assembly Elections 2022

*Paromita Das

Goa may be one of India’s smallest states, yet it has frequently produced unexpected consequences. On February 14, elections for the 40-member Goa Assembly were held. The main struggle is between the BJP and the Congress, with the Trinamool Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party also in the running. Regional parties such as the GFP and the MGP are also running.

According to political observers, the incumbent BJP is poised to complete a hat trick in the coastal State with the backing of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), as vote counting patterns show a hung House.it has frequently produced unexpected consequences. On February 14, elections for the 40-member Goa Assembly were held. The main struggle is between the BJP and the Congress, with the Trinamool Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party also in the running. Regional parties such as the GFP and the MGP are also running.

Analysts believe that because no party appears to be able to reach the 21-seat threshold on its own, the MGP may hold the key to forming a government in Goa.

Surprisingly, Goa also issued a skewed verdict in 2017. The Congress, which had emerged as the single largest party at the time, not only failed to establish a government, but its strength was gradually reduced to two.

In Sanquelim, CM Pramod Sawant has now seized the charge. Meanwhile, in Panaji, the BJP’s Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate leads independent candidate Utpal Parrikar by a little more than 300 votes. Mr. Parrikar, the son of late Goa Chief Minister and BJP veteran Mahohar Parrikar, revolted against the party after being denied a ticket to run as an independent in Panaji, a seat held by Mahohar Parrikar for nearly 25 years.

Congress candidate Michael Lobo, an ex-BJP Minister and a popular Catholic figure, has a substantial lead in his stronghold of Calangute, as has BJP candidate Rohan Khaunte, who leads by over 1,000 votes in Porvorim.

Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco leads by 3,700 votes in Curtorim.

Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, an independent candidate and former three-term MLA, is leading RG party contender Rubert Pereira by more than 3,700 votes.

Mr. Lourenco departed the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress less than a month after leaving the Congress. “When I made the decision to join the TMC, I injured a lot of people,” he stated, adding that he received a tremendous “backlash” from his faithful constituents as a result of his decision to join the TMC.

He had left Congress despite the fact that the party had included Mr. Lourenco’s name on the original list of eight candidates.

The MGP might clutch the key to establishing a government.

The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), Goa’s oldest regional party, is in the center of electoral speculation after exit polls projected a hung Assembly and that it could emerge as the ‘kingmaker’ this time.

After the end of Portuguese colonial control in Goa in 1961, the MGP was the first party to administer the state.

The MGP has snagged the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which is contesting for the first time in the coastal state.

Sudin Dhavalikar, MGP head and candidate from Marcaim constituency, has stated that he is “100% certain” of his alliance with the TMC, despite meeting with officials of the Congress and the BJP.