I was confident of winning, says Goa CM Pramod Sawant

BJP workers welcome Dr Pramod Sawant at the party office in Panaji. Pic/Faizan Khan

The results in Goa have far exceeded the BJP's expectations. The party thought it would fall short of winning by a few seats, but now it can form the govt with the help of just one independent MLA.

Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant told mid-day that it was 10 years of development, infrastructure and the X factor being PM Narendra Modi that swung the tide in its favour. The Congress believes that the wave was against the BJP, but the division of votes between the Opposition parties gave a free pass to the saffron party to secure victory.

Illustration/Uday Mohite

Sawant, who defeated Congress's Dharmesh Saglani in Sanquelim constituency by a margin of just 666 votes, said, "I was confident of winning the seat."

The BJP can now form the government with the help of just one independent MLA. The three independents, Antonio Vas, Chandrakant Shetye and Alex Reginald, have extended their support to the BJP. "Initially, we thought that we may fall short of four-five seats, but the support we have got from people is tremendous," said a BJP leader from Goa on the condition of anonymity.

BJP workers celebrate outside the party office in Panaji

‘I was confident of winning'

Sawant said, "I was confident the BJP would win 22 seats. We lost two, but by a margin of just a few hundred votes. Various factors worked in our favour, and one of them was the leadership at the Centre and the face of PM Modi. There was a concern about anti-incumbency, but people have shown their faith in us because of the work we have done in the past 10 years."

Sawant, 49, was the speaker of the Goa Assembly before he took oath as the CM following the demise of veteran BJP leader Manohar Parrikar in 2019.

Devendra Fadanvis meets Sawant and other BJP leaders over tea after winning the election, on Thursday. Pics/Faizan Khan

He is a professional Ayurveda practitioner and obtained this degree from Ganga Education Society in Kolhapur. He also holds a Masters degree in Social Work from Pune's Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth.

He started his political career in 2008, but lost the first state election. In 2012, he contested from Sanquelim constituency and defeated Congress leader Pratap Gauns with 66 per cent votes, and again in 2017, he defeated Dharmesh Saglani of Congress with 43 per cent votes.

P Chidambaram addresses the media with senior Congress leader from Goa Digambar Kamat (second from left)

Former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, the in-charge of Goa elections, has been camping in the state since Wednesday. "There is no denying that the state government has done well in the past 10 years and despite anti-incumbency, we have been able to register a thumping victory. Another factor that went in our favour was the face of PM Modi," he told mid-day.

‘Defeat by small margin'

Addressing the media, veteran Congress leader P Chidambaram said, "We accept the verdict of the people of Goa. Our candidates fought a good election and fought against several obstacles. In several constituencies, we have lost by a very small number. In a small constituency like Goa, the margin will be small, but if you do a closer analysis, a couple of things are clear. The people of Goa wanted change but the message has not gone to them properly."

Chidambaram pointed towards the split of votes because of AAP that won two seats by getting 6.77 per cent votes, but caused damage to the Congress in a few seats. He said, "West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's TMC failed to secure a single seat, but got 5.21 per cent votes. The NCP also got zero seats, but the voting percentage was around 1.14 per cent. Shiv Sena got 0.18 per cent seats, which is less than that of NOTA-1.12 per cent. [These figures are till 7 pm on Thursday]."

"The people of Goa reacted to their need for change by voting for new parties in the state that helped the BJP," he added.