I was confident of winning, says Goa CM Pramod Sawant

The results in Goa have far exceeded the BJPrsquos 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 MLAChief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant told midday 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 victoryIllustrationUday MohiteSawant who defeated Congressrsquos Dharmesh Saglani in Sanquelim constituency by a margin of just 666 votes said ldquoI was confident of winning the seatrdquoThe 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 ldquoInitially we thought that we may fall short of fourfive seats but the support we have got from people is tremendousrdquo said a BJP leader from Goa on the condition of anonymityBJP workers celebrate outside the party office in PanajilsquoI was confident of winningrsquoSawant said ldquoI 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 antiincumbency but people have shown their faith in us because of the work we have done in the past 10 yearsrdquoSawant 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 2019Devendra Fadanvis meets Sawant and other BJP leaders over tea after winning the election on Thursday PicsFaizan KhanHe 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 Punersquos Tilak Maharashtra VidyapeethHe 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 votesP Chidambaram addresses the media with senior Congress leader from Goa Digambar Kamat second from leftFormer Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis the incharge of Goa elections has been camping in the state since Wednesday ldquoThere is no denying that the state government has done well in the past 10 years and despite antiincumbency we have been able to register a thumping victory Another factor that went in our favour was the face of PM Modirdquo he told middaylsquoDefeat by small marginrsquoAddressing the media veteran Congress leader P Chidambaram said ldquoWe 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 properlyrdquoChidambaram pointed towards the split of votes because of AAP that won two seats by getting 677 per cent votes but caused damage to the Congress in a few seats He said ldquoWest Bengal CM Mamata Banerjeersquos TMC failed to secure a single seat but got 521 per cent votes The NCP also got zero seats but the voting percentage was around 114 per cent Shiv Sena got 018 per cent seats which is less than that of NOTA112 per cent These figures are till 7 pm on ThursdayrdquoldquoThe people of Goa reacted to their need for change by voting for new parties in the state that helped the BJPrdquo he added