Goa bypolls: Health Minister Vishwajit Rane leads against Congress' Roy Naik in Valpoi constituency

Panaji: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate and Goa health minister Vishwajit Rane was leading in the first round of counting for by-election to Valpoi Assembly constituency as the counting began here at 8 am on Monday. [caption id=“attachment_3513945” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] Rane is pitted against Congress’ Roy Naik. The polling was held on 23 August. After the first round, Rane had polled 5,395 votes while Naik had got 1,576. Independent candidate Rohidas Gaonkar had polled 109 votes. The by-election became necessary after Rane resigned as a Congress legislator to join the ruling BJP.