Goa bypolls: Manohar Parrikar defeats Girish Chodankar by 4,803 votes to win Panaji Assembly seat

Panaji: Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday won the Panaji Assembly by-election, defeating his nearest rival, Girish Chodankar of the Congress, by 4,803 votes. [caption id=“attachment_3954025” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Manohar Parrikar. PTI[/caption] Parrikar polled 9,862 votes against 5,059 by Chodankar. Goa Suraksha Manch president Anand Shirodkar polled only 220 votes, while 301 people pressed ‘None of The Above’ (NOTA) button. The polling was held on 23 August. Parrikar was sworn in as the chief minister in March 2017 after the Bharatiya Janata Party formed a coalition government with Goa Forward Party, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and Independents.