CM is behind even though party is ahead, Goa CM Pramod Sawant suffers setback in his own constituency

PANAJI: BJP chief minister Pramod Sawant and Congress candidate Dharmesh Sanghalani are neck to neck as the first results of the Assembly polls are out.

Dharmesh Sanghalani remains in the first place with 4014 votes. Pramod Sawant is just behind with 3697 votes. Meantime, the BJP is leading in the state with 18 seats. The Congress is leading in 14 seats and Trinamool in four. The counting of votes in 40 constituencies started from 8 am today. The polls in Goa were held on February 14. There are 300 candidates in 40 Assembly constituencies.

In the 2017 assembly elections, the Congress emerged as the largest single party with a victory of 17 seats, but the BJP, which won 13 seats in alliance with the Goa Forward Party, the MGP and two independents, took control. To prevent this from happening again, the Congress had yesterday shifted all the candidates to a luxury resort in Bambolin near Panaji.