The BJP is all set to form the government in Goa, for the third straight-term, despite falling short of the magic figure by one seat, as three Independents and Trinamul's ally, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, appeared to pledge their support for Pramod Sawant to continue as chief minister.
The BJP has won 20 of the 40 seats in the Goa Legislative Assembly, and needs the support of just one more lawmaker for Sawant to be sworn-in.
Independents Antonio Vas, Chandrakant Shetye and Alex Reginald have announced their support, while former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Phadanvis, who is camping in Goa since Wednesday, claimed the support of the MGP, which has bagged two seats.
"With a tally of 19 seats & support from 3 independents , @BJP4Goa is set to form Govt for record 3rd consecutive term . A big round of applause for Team @BJP4Goa led by @ShetSadanand & CM @DrPramodPSawant ably guided by @Dev_Fadnavis & @CTRavi_BJP," tweeted BL Santhosh, BJP national general secretary (Organisation).
“I have been telling that ours is a double engine government. The credit for my victory goes to the party workers. We will take some Independents and the MGP to form the government,” said Pramod Sawant, the incumbent chief minister after his win from Sanquelim by a margin of just 600 votes.
According to sources, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party which went into the polls in alliance with the Trinamul Congress is willing to extend support to the BJP. As per the trends on the Election Commission website and NDTV, the MGP was leading in two seats. The Aam Aadmi Party has won in one seat and leading in another, while Trinamul Congress which had made quite a splash in the campaign returned empty-handed.
Though the Trinamul could not win any seats, it got about 5.23 per cent of the votes, which is most likely to have shifted from the Congress.
In 2017, despite getting a lesser vote share than the BJP (28.4 per cent), the Congress had emerged as the single-largest party with 17 seats, followed by the BJP at 13. The BJP went on to form the government as it stitched alliances quicker than the Congress high command in Delhi which took time to react to the emerging situation.
Over the next five years, all but two lawmakers elected on a Congress ticket remained with the party. The Congress stood firm on its ground and did not welcome back any of its defectors. In 2022, the party’s vote share and the number of seats have both slumped at 11 (ally Goa Forward Party leader Vijay Sardesai has won from the Fatorda seat, taking the total to 12) with 23.41 per cent of the vote share, around ten per cent less than the BJP which still is at 20. A resilient Goa Congress has struggled to reach double figures in a state where the smallest of margins could swing the verdict.
“Lead is not everything. The final results are yet to come. We will form the government with the help of other political parties and independents,” said Aleixo Sequeira, Goa Congress working president.
RESULTS/LEADS
BJP: 20
Cong+: 12
TMC+: 2
AAP+: 3
OTHERS: 3
The Aam Aadmi Party too opened its account in Goa, winning one seat and leading in another.
With just 12 MLAs in its kitty, the Congress has an uphill task to manage both the MGP lawmakers (who are already being wooed by the BJP), the three Independents who have won and the sole Revolutionary Goans Party lawmaker. Even then the Congress would find it difficult to form the government, unless it can engineer defections in the BJP ranks.
The Trinamul, which did not even lead in a seat, is unlikely to prevail upon its ally the MGP not to side with the BJP at this stage. The Trinamul, ever since it landed in Goa in September 2021, has been trying to pin the blame on the Congress for an eventual BJP victory in the state. The Grand Old Party’s poor showing in the state makes it difficult for it being part of any emerging template that could help the Opposition counter the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
