Goa Elections 2022: Voters Have Come in Large Numbers, Says GOA Chief Electoral Officer as Voting Crosses 78%

Goa recorded 78.46 per cent voter turnout on Monday as polling was conducted for the elections to 40 Assembly seats in the coastal state, as per the Election Commission’s data. Highest turnout of 79.45 pe cent was reported in the North Goa district. The South Goa district recorded a total voting percentage of 76.92 per cent. Goa Assembly Election Result 2022 LIVE Updates:

Goa Chief Electoral Officer, IAS Kunal said that voting is likely to cross 80 per cent. “The voters have come in large numbers and the turnout will cross 80 percent. We will get the exact percentage when our returning officers are back,” he said.

Voting began at 7 am and will end at 6 pm. The counting of votes will be held on March 10.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday claimed the BJP will win more than 22 seats in the 40-member state Assembly, the polling for which is currently underway, and said he will continue to hold the top post if his party forms government in the coastal state.

After casting his vote at a booth in Sankhalim constituency of North Goa district, Sawant also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to him in the morning over phone and conveyed his best wishes for the Assembly polls. Polling began Monday morning in Goa, where 301 candidates are in the fray for the 40 Assembly seats, election officials said. Voting began at 7 am and will conclude at 6 pm in the single-phase elections in the coastal state, the officials said.

Over 11 lakh people are eligible to cast their votes. They include 9,590 persons with disabilities, 2,997 aged over 80 years, 41 sex workers and nine transgenders. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

In the earlier elections in 2017, the Congress had won 17 seats, while the BJP bagged 13. The BJP had then quickly sort an alliance with some regional outfits and independents to form government in the state. The state is currently ruled by the BJP which has 17 MLAs in the state and has alliance with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), Vijay Sardesai of the Goa Forward Party (GFP), and three independents. The main opposition in the party remained Congress, which has 15 MLAs in the house.

Traditionally Goa has seen two-sided politics, but is witnessing a multi-cornered contest this time with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) throwing its hat in the ring. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) and other smaller parties are also vying to make a mark on Goa’s electoral scene. The Congress and the GFP are fighting the election in alliance, while the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC has joined hands with the MGP.

The Shiv Sena and the NCP had also announced their pre-poll alliance, while the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP is contesting on its own.

Here are the latest updates in Goa Elections 2022:

• Goa Elections: People of Goa step out vote as voting closes by 6 pm. See photos.

• Goa Elections: Here’s a lowdown of the high-stakes in three most watched constituencies in Goa election today.

• Goa Elections: Goa reported 26.63 percent voter turnout till 11am as the polling is underway in 40 assembly constituencies on Monday.

• Goa Polls: Aam Aadmi Party CM candidate Amit Palekar along with his mother casts his vote in Assembly elections. “People are voting enthusiastically to defeat corruption, we will witness sea-change; let’s wait for March 10 results,” he said.

• Goa Election News: “Polling process peaceful with 11.04% voter turnout so far. We want more & more people to vote this time, expecting record-breaking voting. 5 Control Units, 11 VVPATs replaced during mock polls, this is a normal procedure,” Kunal, Chief Electoral Officer, Goa said.

• Goa Assembly Elections 2022: “People of Goa will vote for a change,” says TMC MP Sushmita Dev.

• Goa Assembly Elections 2022: “I’m in Cotombi Village & have cast my vote. I appeal to public to come out in huge numbers to vote. BJP govt’s work is in front of everyone. Utpal Parrikar (independent) & Michael Lobo (Congress) won’t win, as BJP is coming with a majority,” said Goa CM Pramod Sawant.

• Goa Elections: The BJP is fielding sitting MLA Joshua Peter D’Souza from Mapusa, who won a bypoll in 2019 his father and late MLA Francis D’Souza died that year. Mapusa is an urban assembly segment that will witness a multi-pronged contest. In Mapusa, a total of eight candidates are in the poll fray. Check full candidate list here. 

• Goa Elections: “People voting not for constituency but for Goa. When we talk about Goa, we talk about boys & girls who are unemployed, about mining being closed for last 10 yrs, about problems in tourism industry. People are going to vote for future,” Congress candidate from Calangute, Michael Lobo, told ANI.

• Goa Polls: Congress leader and Panjm candidate Elvis Gomes told News18, “People are fed up of misgovernance in Panjim. Overall anti- incumbency will also help us. I request the people of Panjim to please come out in large numbers and please do vote.” Gomes was AAP’s CM face in Goa during 2017 elections.

• Goa Polls: Apart from the traditional contenders – BJP and Congress – Aam Aadmi Party, Goa Forward Party, Trinamool Congress Party, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena, Revolutionary Goans Party, Goencho Swabhimaan Party, Jai Mahabharat Party and Sambhaji Brigade are in the fray.

• Goa CM Pramod Sawant, wife Sulakshana Sawant offer prayers.

• Utpal Parrikar visits polling booths in Panaji.

• Goa Assembly elections 2022: “Today is the day of celebration of democracy. I appeal to everyone to come out and cast your vote. A vote for the future, a vote for stability, a vote for fulfillment of aspirations, a vote for all round development, a vote for prosperous Goa,” CM Pramod Sawant tweeted.

• The AAP, which had contested all 40 seats in the 2017 Goa Assembly polls and lost 39, has made determined efforts this time. It has also wooed the dominant Bhandari community and named a chief ministerial candidate – Amit Palekar – from it.

• Goa Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai and his wife Reetha Sreedharan cast their votes.

• “PM Modi called me in the morning today to give his best wishes. I’m fully confident that BJP will win 22+ seats. The infrastructure development by BJP in 10yrs & PM Modi’s self-reliant vision will definitely benefit us with a 100% majority,” CM Pramod Sawant told news agency ANI.

• “Only a stable, decisive and corruption-free government can ensure the development of the state,” Amit Shah says as he urges Goans to “vote in large numbers.”

• AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal urges the people of Goa to vote and “make Goa corruption free”.

• Voting begins for Goa Assembly Elections 2022.

• Goa had recorded 82.56 per cent turnout during the 2017 elections.

• The News18 Poll of Polls predicted a win for the ruling party in India’s smallest state by area. As per pollsters, the BJP could win 18-22 seats in the 40-seat Assembly. The halfway mark in Goa is 21 seats.

• Preparations underway for voting. Visuals from polling booth number 15 of Taleigao Assembly Constituency.

• There are a total of 1722 polling stations in Goa.

• There are 105 all-women polling booths, also called as the ‘pink booths’, eight polling booths managed by differently-abled people, while 11 are eco-friendly booths (discouraging use of plastic).

• Chief Electoral Officer Kunal had said the average number of eligible voters per booth in the state is 672, the lowest in the country. The Vasco Assembly constituency has the highest number of 35,139 eligible voters, while the Mormugao seat has the lowest number of voters at 19,958, he said.

• Voting will open at 7 am and continue till 6 pm the election commission added an extra hour of voting in order to ensure that adequate arrangements and social distancing is maintained.

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