Counting of votes for the Goa Zilla Panchayat elections began on Monday after a high voter turnout of 70.81 per cent was recorded across the state. The elections, seen as politically significant ahead of the 2027 Goa Assembly polls, were held on Saturday for all 50 constituencies.
According to reports till 11 am, the Congress registered a win in Davorlim, where its candidate Floriano Fernandes emerged victorious.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), meanwhile, secured several important victories. Namdev Babal Chari won from the Honda constituency, which had witnessed a keen three-cornered contest. The seat saw candidates from all three major political parties, with Ayush Sitaram Kerkar representing the Congress, Navso Govind Jadhav contesting for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and Chari being fielded by the BJP.
The BJP also won the Latambarcem seat, where Padmakar Arjun Malik emerged victorious. Latambarcem recorded the highest voter turnout in the state at 88.29 per cent, reflecting strong public participation.
In Xeldom, BJP candidate Shidharth Desai won against multiple opponents, including James Maxie Fernandes of AAP, Rosario Mariano Fernandes of the Congress, and independent candidates John Marshal Luis Barretto and Ramananda Anand Naik.
Another major BJP win came from Usgao Ganjem, where Samiksha Naik defeated Congress candidate Manisha Usgaonkar by a large margin of 6,290 votes to 2,932.
Several constituencies in North Goa saw crowded contests. Dhargal had the highest number of candidates at seven, while Arambol, Siolim, Aldona, Torxem and Calangute saw strong participation from independent candidates. Political observers said independents could play a crucial role as vote cutters or kingmakers in closely fought seats.
The elections were conducted across 1,284 polling booths, with 226 candidates in the fray and nearly eight lakh voters eligible to vote.
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