BJP-led alliance in Goa sweeps zilla panchayat elections, winning 32 of 50 seats

THe Bharatiya Janata company (BJP)-led ruling confederation in Goa swept the zilla panchayet elections, winning 32 of the 50 seats crossways the tell in a mandate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to results announced by the state election commissionThe BJP won 29 seats and its alliance partner, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) won three seats. The alliance had fielded candidates in 43 seats. Meanwhile, the Opposition Congress won 10 seats while its alliance partner, the Goa Forward Party just won one .The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP), which had previously been in talks with the Congress, won one and two seats, respectively, while independent candidates won four seats.Goa has two district panchayats—North Goa and South Goa—with 25 members each. Polling was held on December 20 across the state, excluding municipal areas, and the votes were counted on Monday. A total of 226 candidates were in the fray, with 111 in North Goa and 115 in South Goa. The counting was held across 14 centres: six in North Goa and eight in South Goa, set up by the state election commission.Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the ruling alliance’s performance in the elections, saying in a post on X: “Goa stands with good governance. Goa stands with progressive politics.”Thanking the electors for voting the BJP-MGP coalition, he added: “This will add more vigour to our efforts for Goa’s growth. We are committed to boosting the dreams and aspirations of the people of this wonderful state. Our hardworking NDA Karyakartas have done commendable work on the ground, which has led to this result.”Goa BJP president Damodar Naik said the victory meant people recognised there is no alternative to the BJP.Naik said it was also the sharpest rebuttal to the Opposition Congress, which has sought to link BJP victories to the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the past. “Many people had made allegations about EVMs… But these elections were held on ballot papers, and yet, we won, which shows that people have true faith in the ruling BJP. I am happy to announce that the results of the zilla panchayat elections have indicated that there is no alternative to the BJP,” Naik said.Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant said this was a victory for the NDA under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “I congratulate all the victorious leaders and assure them that they will work towards development. I thank Goa’s rural voters for reposing faith in our party and government,” Sawant said, adding that the people had clearly rejected the Congress.“We lost some seats due to small margins, and we will rectify this and hope to do better next time,” he addedThe Congress blamed a split in the Opposition’s vote for the BJP’s victory.“Across Goa, you can see that they have won several seats by narrow margins on account of division. Of course, when there is a good margin, those seats you can say were won decisively. We have to acknowledge that. In other places, wherever it is a victory, it is a vote by division. If you add up the Opposition votes, they would have lost,” Congress MLA Carlos Alvares Ferreira said.