As counting for the Goa Assembly elections is underway, Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant has retained the Sanquelim Assembly seat for the third consecutive time by defeating Congress candidate Dharmesh Saglani and Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP's) Manojkumar Ghadi.
Sawant won against Saglani with a margin of 666 votes. He has been elected twice from the seat before in 2012 and 2017.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has won 14 out of the total 40 seats in Goa and is leading in six. INC has won five and is also leading in six. Follow the live coverage here.
Sawant, who was sworn-in as the 13th CM in March 2019 following the demise of former CM Manohar Parrikar, is likely to retain the top post.
"It was very challenging for me as I was campaigning state-wise but couldn't reach my own constituency. My workers campaigned for me. I've won with low margins but we (the BJP) have won with a majority. It's a big deal."Dr Pramod Sawant to ANI
"The BJP will form the government in Goa. We will take MGP and independent candidates with us," he added.
After several exit poll results predicted the likeliness of a hung Assembly in Goa, Sawant had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Tuesday, 8 March, and expressed confidence that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will form the government in the coastal state.
BJP Seeks Support of TMC Ally MGP
Following the meeting with PM Modi, Sawant met BJP's Goa in-charge, Devendra Fadnavis and BJP state president Sadanand Shet Tanavade in Mumbai.
Fadnavis also held a meeting with senior MGP functionary Ramkrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar to reportedly discuss a post-poll alliance.
However, the MGP is currently in a pre-poll alliance with the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which is contesting its maiden election in the coastal state.
MGP, who was formerly a BJP ally, had walked out of the NDA after Sawant dropped the party from the Goa Cabinet after taking over as the chief minister in 2019.
In the 40-member House, though the Congress had emerged as the single-largest party in 2017, winning 17 seats, the BJP, which had won 13 seats, managed to form the government with the support of the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), which had won three seats each, besides two Independents.
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