English
Panaji, March 11: The results of the Goa Assembly elections 2017 are set to be announced by the Election Commission of India. While the counting for the postal ballot results will commence at 8 AM, the results of the Electronic Voting Machine votes will commence at 8:30 AM.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the counting of votes by both North and South Goa administrations. The counting centres have been separately set up in separate centres in both regions. While, votes in the 19 North Goa constituencies will be counted at Bal Bhavan, Campal, the counting for the South Goa constituencies will take place at Government College of Commerce and Economics, Borda, Margao.
The first constituency whose votes will be counted is Mandrem. This is of particular importance considering the fact that the incumbent Chief Minister and BJP leader, Laxmikanth Parsekar, had contested the elections from the same constituency.
The ruling BJP government in the state had fielded candidates in 37 out of total 40 constituencies for the upcoming polls. However, the party has decided to support independent candidates contesting from Vellim, Benaulim and Nuvem area.
The BJP’s manifesto for the Goa polls has two main pitches, job creation and development. The party has also promised employment opportunities in the MOPA airport project. The party, however, did not touch upon the issues of casinos and the mining industry, a key issue upon which it won the 2012 Assembly elections in the state.
Approximately 129 tables have been set up in the North Goa counting stations while another 100 have been set up in the South Goa. Apart from the 11 lakh voters, key leaders like Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Union Minister Shripad Naik and Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar were among the early voters who cast their ballots.
The polls will also decide the future of five former Chief Ministers of Goa Churchill Alemao, Pratapsinh Rane, Ravi Naik, Digambar Kamat, Luizinho Faleiro and the incumbent Chief Minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party Laxmikanth Parsekar.
While, a victory of the BJP would mean the acceptance of recent governmental policies including demonetisation by the people of the state, further cementing the possibility of a return to power in the Union government by the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections,
Meanwhile, the victory of the Aam Aadmi Party would mean the clear expansion of the party as a national power with influence in major regions of the country. The Congress party, however, has to remain careful of not losing minimal power for fear of getting erased from the political scene of India.
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