Parrikar scores in Goa bypolls
BYPOLLS Health minister Vishwajit Rane won the Valpoi seat, while CM claimed the Panaji seat; BJP’s tally in state assembly is 14
All methods were tried … legal, media, social media and bad publicity. Even to the extent that two days before elections, some organisation released an untrue factfinding report. MANOHAR PARRIKAR, Goa CM
PANAJI: The BJP on Monday won the assembly seats of Panaji and Valpoi where by-elections were held on August 23. After Monday’ s result, the BJP’s strength in the House has risen to 14, still two short of the Congress.
While chief minister Man oh ar Par rik ar won by a margin of 4,803 votes over Girish Chodankar of the Congress in Panaji, health minister Vishwajit Ranew how as contesting on a BJP ticket for the first time scored a victory by 10,066 votes to take the Valpoi seat. Ran e defeated Roy Naik, son of Congress leader Ravi Naik.
In the February 2017 Assembly elections the BJP had won in Panaji with a margin of around 1,000 votes. Babush Monserrate, an independent candidate who had give a tough fight in that election, joined the Goa Forward Party an alliance of the BJP in Goa and pledged his support to Parrikar in the by-elections.
Par rik ar, who had been representing Panaji since 1994, had re signed in November 2014 to join the Union cabinet as defence minister. Sidharth Kuncolienkar, who won the subsequent by-poll from Pan aji and retained these at in the 2017 polls, stepped down to make way for Par rik ar to contest.
The Val poi by poll became necessary after Ran ere signed as MLA before joining BJP.
“Our candidates had to fight against the odds. There was no infrastructure in Valpoiand Chodank ar was standing for the first time from Panaji. But they did a good job,” said president of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee Shantaram Naik.
Parrikar and Rane in a joint press conference after the results on Monday, said there was a large conspiracy to defeat them.
“All methods were tried … legal, media, social media and bad publicity. Even to the extent that two days before elections, some organisation released an untrue fact-finding report,” said Parrikar.
“I am calling it untrue. You will realise in the coming days because the government goes by police investigation in which the reality will come before you. I am calling it untrue because who had given the authority to the factfinding committee about which no one knows. But two days before elections the report was out. They had met the police and police had explained everything to them. Irrespective of that, they released it before two days,” Parrikar said.