Parrikar wins Panaji bypoll, BJP clinches Valpoi also

Arnima Dwivedi
Published on: 28 Aug 2017 4:47 AM GMT
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Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has won the Panaji assembly by-election by 4,803 votes.

The results were announced on Monday and the Goa CM cliched the battle from his nearest rival, Congress' Girish Chodankar.

Parrikar got 9,862 votes while his nearest rival Congress' Girish Chodankar netted 5,059 votes. Anand Shirodkar of the Goa Suraksha Manch came a distant third polling 220 votes.

Also Read: Counting begins for Panaji,Valpoi and Bawana by-polls

"I was expecting to win," Parrikar said after the victory.

The losing candidate Chodankar also stated, "I may have lost numerically, but residents of Panaji have given me a lot of love."

The Bharatiya Janata Party also clinched Valpoi by-polls. The constituency was considered as a stronghold of the Congress. Health Minister Vishwajit Rane won the Valpoi seat with a margin of 10,066 votes.

The winning Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Rane got 16,167 votes, while his rival from the Congress, Roy Naik netted 6,101 votes.

"I am overwhelmed by the victory and the support by my people," Rane said, alleging that the mine-owning lobby tried its best to defeat him.

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Parrikar, who won the Panaji seat for the sixth time, polled 9,862 votes beating his nearest rival Congress' Girish Chodankar, who netted 5,059 votes. Anand Shirodkar of the Goa Suraksha Manch came a distant third with 220 votes.

Following the former Defence Minister's victory, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted: "Spoke to Goa Chief Minister and congratulated him on his impressive victory..."

It could be recalled that nearly 75 per cent voting was recorded during the August 23 bypolls in Goa.

The bypoll in Panaji was necessitated after former Defence Minister Parrikar's return to state politics in March as Chief Minister.

Sitting BJP MLA Sidarth Kuncolienkar resigned from the Panaji seat, enabling the four time Chief Minister and five-time Panaji MLA to contest for the state's capital constituency.

In Valpoi, the bypolls were held following the resignation of Rane as a Congress MLA. He subsequently joined the BJP and joined the cabinet as Health Minister.

Arnima Dwivedi

Arnima Dwivedi

A journalist, presently working as a sub-editor with newstrack.com. I love exploring new genres of humans and humanity.

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