Goa bypolls counting begins for Panaji, Valpoi Assembly seats: Parrikar, Chodankar fight for key constituency

Panaji: Counting of votes for Goa’s two Assembly constituencies, Panaji and Valpoi, began at 8 am on Monday. [caption id=“attachment_3513945” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] In the Panaji by-election, four-time chief minister and five-time Panaji MLA Manohar Parrikar takes on Girish Chodankar of the Congress and Anand Shirodkar of the Goa Suraksha Manch. In the Valpoi bypoll, the contest is between Health Minister Vishwajit Rane and Roy Naik of the Congress. Poll officials said that counting was likely to be completed by 10 am followed by the announcement of the winners. Nearly 75 percent voting was recorded during the 23 August bypolls in Goa, with 22,196 and 28,868 votes cast in Panaji and in Valpoi assembly constituencies respectively. The bypoll in Panaji was necessitated after Parrikar’s return to state politics in March this year, as chief minister. Sitting BJP MLA Sidarth Kuncolienkar resigned from the Panaji seat, enabling Parrikar to contest for the state capital constituency. In Valpoi, the bypolls were held following the resignation of Rane as a Congress MLA. He subsequently joined the BJP and the cabinet as health minister.