Panaji: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was among the first to cast his vote as polling for all 40 constituencies of the Goa Legislative Assembly began at 7am. In characteristic fashion, Parrikar was seen standing among voters waiting for his turn to vote.
The BJP has not named incumbent Laxmikant Parsekar as the party’s CM face but has dropped hints of Parrikar’s return to the coastal state.
However, Parrikar, a former Goa CM, dodged questions on the issue on Saturday morning. “The BJP will win two-third majority. Initial reports suggest a good turnout, may even surpass last year’s turnout of 84%," he told reporters.
More than 11 lakh voters will decide the fate of 250 candidates. The election is being held across 1,642 polling booths in the state with para-military forces and state police guarding the venues.FULL COVERAGE: Assembly Elections 2017
The election is being closely fought by major political forces BJP, Congress, AAP and MGP-led alliance, who have been campaigning in the coastal state for last two months.
BJP's campaign was studded with several national leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah, addressing the public meeting to rally support for the candidates.
While a large number of new faces are contesting this time, the polls will decide political future of Goa's five former chief ministers Churchill Alemao, Pratapsinh Rane, Ravi Naik, Digambar Kamat and Luizinho Faleiro along with present CM Laxmikant Parsekar.
The Chief Electoral Office which has been meticulously preparing for the polls since last six months have added various features for the elections in Goa, making the coastal state to have few firsts.
The VVPAT machines help the voters to ascertain that his vote has gone to the candidate whom he has voted clearing off the doubt about authenticity of EVMs.
The election commission officials who have trained their staff on use of VVPAT machines have rubbished rumours that the secrecy of voting would be disturbed with this new facility.
The coastal state is also the first state in the country to opt for electronic transmission of postal ballot to service voters.
Doing away with the traditional method, the ballot papers are sent to service voters who can download it and send it back to the returning officer via email after voting for candidate of his choice.
Goa has 822 service voters who are either in the defence, para-military forces or on diplomatic missions who can avail this facility, sparing them from sending their vote through postal ballot.
Though 2012 Goa Assembly elections witnessed satisfactory 83 per cent voting, the election commission officials have run an awareness campaign for the voters in order to increase the bar.
For the current polls, AAP is contesting on 39 seats, Congress on 37 and BJP on 36 seats. BJP which had pre-poll alliance in 2012 elections is going alone this time but is supporting independents in four constituencies.
There is also speculation that Parrikar, a former Goa chief minister, might be sent back as its next CM if BJP retains power in the tourist state.
(With PTI inputs)
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