The Congress on Tuesday retained the South Goa Lok Sabha constituency after Captain Viriato Fernandes defeated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Pallavi Shrinivas Dempo by 14,703 votes, data from the Election Commission of India (ECI) stated.
While final numbers are yet to be made available, Viriato got 2,15,672 votes while Dempo received 2,00,969 votes.
Rupert Pereira of the Revolutionary Goans Party was placed third in the list with 18,679 votes.
Speaking after his victory, Fernandes attributed his win to the people.
“The people of Goa have voted against unemployment, religious discrimination and abuse of power by the ruling party. I thank the people who have voted for me as well as the alliance partners for ensuring my victory. In the constituency where the prime minister had a campaign rally, the Congress got a lead of 3,000 votes,” he added.
Viriato, a former Captain in the Indian Navy, entered politics ahead of the 2022 Goa state assembly polls, which he contested unsuccessfully and was nominated by the Congress at the cost of sitting MP Francisco Sardinha.
BJP candidate Dempo was the third richest Lok Sabha candidate from the state.
{{/usCountry}}BJP candidate Dempo was the third richest Lok Sabha candidate from the state.
{{/usCountry}}In her affidavit, Dempo had revealed ownership of moveable assets of ₹255.45 crore while her businessman husband Shrinivas Dempo declared moveable assets worth ₹994.84 crore making her among the richest to be contesting the elections.
In North Goa, BJP’s Shripad Yesso Naik (2,50,799 votes) defeated Congress candidate Ramakant Khalap (1,39,446 votes) by a margin of 1,11,353 votes.