SUNDAY, JULY 07, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday attributed the defeat of its candidate in South Goa Parliamentary constituency to ‘religious interference’.
Addressing a press conference, BJP State President and MP Sadanand Shet Tanavade said, “We had to face defeat in South Goa though we expected to register a victory. We accept the defeat but at the same time it was noticed that some votes we could not get due to the interference of religious heads. It has become clear with the mandate we have got.”
He said, however, compared to previous elections, the party has been able to garner more than two lakh votes in South Goa constituency.
“Though we had won in 2014 but the votes polled was less than two lakh. In 2019 also we had been able to poll 1.99 lakh votes,” he said.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said, “No doubt we have been defeated in South Goa. We accept that. Although the defeat has been with a small margin, however, our organisational work will continue.”
Sawant said in North Goa constituency, the BJP was able to garner 56 per cent votes while in South Goa the party lagged behind in nine Assembly constituencies but its vote share increased to 45.26 per cent.
He said the party’s fight will remain with the Congress and not with the people till the next Assembly elections, which will be held after three years in March 2027.
The Chief Minister said he had never used term like ‘Mission Salcete.’ He denied that there was lack of cooperation from any party leader in South Goa.
Union Minister of State and North Goa candidate Shripad Naik said, “I am thankful to the people of North Goa and the party workers due to which I have been able to secure a lead which is more than leads secured in previous elections. The credit of victory goes to all. I will continue development works which I have been doing during the earlier terms.”
