Goa by-poll results: Parrikar wins Panaji seat by a margin of 4,803 votes

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Panaji: Former union defence minister and current Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday registered a thumping victory in Goa assembly bye-election from the Panaji constituency by a margin of 4,803 votes.

Parrikar, who polled 9,862 votes, beat his nearest rival Congress` Girish Chodankar, who netted 5,059 votes. Anand Shirodkar of the Goa Suraksha Manch came a distant third polling 220 votes.

Soon after Parrirkar and Vishwajit Rane's win, PM Narendra Modi took to Twitter and congratulated them. He wrote,"Congrats to Manohar Parrikar and Vishwajit Rane for the impressive wins in Panaji and Valpoi respectively. I thank the people of Goa for their support."

Congrats to @manoharparrikar & @visrane for the impressive wins in Panaji & Valpoi respectively. I thank the people of Goa for their support — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 28, 2017

Talking to reporters after the victory, Parrikar said that he was expecting his win. "Winning by such margin is great. The people are wise. I would resign from the Rajya Sabha in the coming week," the CM added. 

Parrikar came back to state politics after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), despite not being the single-largest party in the state, went on to form the government with the help and alliance of Independents and other small parties.

While Chodankar told reporters: "I may have lost numerically, but residents of Panaji have given me a lot of love." 

Sitting BJP MLA Sidarth Kuncolienkar resigned from the Panaji seat, enabling Parrikar to contest for the state capital constituency. 

Nearly 75 per cent voting was recorded during the August 23 by-polls in Goa, with 22,196 and 28,868 votes cast in Panaji and in Valpoi assembly constituencies respectively.

Earlier, Parrikar was condemned over an alleged video circulated on the social media, which quoted him saying that he may go back to the Centre if he loses the by-polls in Goa.

It was also said that Parrikar, by making such statements, was insulting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had appointed him as the defence minister.

(With inputs from agencies)