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Wednesday, Jun 06, 2007
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A setback to BJP in Goa

Special Correspondent

The party fell short of its performance in the 2002 elections by three seats

PANAJI: The Bharatiya Janata Party, which was banking heavily on its former Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar, to romp back to power on the plank of "honesty and good governance," fell short of its performance in 2002 polls by three seats in the Goa Assembly elections. The Congress, with 16 seats, repeated its tally of 2002.

Some of the major setbacks the BJP suffered were the defeats of former Minister for Industries Ramarao Desai (Curchorem), former Health Minister Suresh Amonkar (Pale), the former Speaker, Vishwas Satarkar, and the former Goa BJP president, Rajendra Arlekar (Vasco).

Other prominent winners are: Mr. Parrikar, Pradesh Congress Committee president Ravi Naik, Power Minister Digambar Kamat, Minister Manohar Ajagaonkar (Dhargal), Minister for Information Technology Dayanand Narvekar (Aldona), Pandurang Madkaikar (Cumbharjua), Minister for Water Resources Filipe Neri Rodrigues (Velim), Joaquim Alemao (Cuncolim) and Agriculture Minister Francisco Pacheco of the NCP in Benaulim.

Among the Congress winners are: Mauvin Godinho (Cortalim), Chandrakant Kavlekar (Quepem), Alex Sequeira (Loutolim), Mr. Francis Silvera(Santa Andre), Mr. Agnelo Fernandes (Calangute) and Gurudas P. Gawas (Pale).

Anil V. Salgaoncar, a mine owner, won in the Sanvordem constituency as an independent defeating the BJP's candidate Vinay Tendulkar by 6923 votes.

The MGP's candidates who won included, Minister for Archives Ramkrishna Dhavlikar who won by the highest margin of 7609 votes and his brother Pandurang alias Dipak Dhavlikar who defeated the former Speaker, Vishwas Satarkar, of the BJP.Apart from Churchill Alemao, president of SGF, who defeated senior Congress leader Luizinho Faleiro in Navelim by a huge margin of votes, only Alex R. Louraco of the SGF could win against Speaker Francisco Sardinha in Curtorim by votes.

One of the striking features of the election is the marginalisation of the two rebel Congress leaders, Mr. Alemao and the former controversial Town and Country Planning Minister, Atanasio Monserrate, who had ditched the Congress separately ahead of elections and posed a challenge to it in what was perceived as a tacit understanding with the BJP. Both their outfits, the Save Goa Front and the UGDP, which had indicated their desire to align with the BJP to form the government in case of a fractured mandate, were left in the lurch as the BJP failed to emerge as leading party.

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