On Tuesday, Goa will go to poll for two Lok Sabha seats and three assembly segments (bypolls) in its 40 member house. This is the first election in two decades that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fought without its star campaigner, former chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who died on March 17. In North Goa, BJP’s Shripad Naik, a four-time MP, won big in 2014. Now he is pitted against Congress state president Girish Chodankar. Aam Aadmi Party, Republican Party of India (Kamble), and two Independents are also in the fray in North Goa. In South Goa, BJP’s MP Narendra Sawaikar is pitted against former Congress MP Francisco Sardinha. The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, with a large vote bank in the Ponda region of the constituency, is backing the Congress.
“It is unlikely that the BJP will retain both Lok Sabha seats and they could even be upset in its traditional stronghold of North Goa,” said political analyst Prabhakar Timble.