Panaji Assembly bypoll loss to be analysed, says Goa CM Pramod Sawant

Panaji: The election for the Goa Assembly speaker will be held during the monsoon session scheduled for July, state chief minister Pramod Sawant said Friday.

The 40-member House does not have a full-time speaker after Sawant left the post to become CM. Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo is the officiating speaker currently.

Addressing a press conference after the Lok Sabha and bypoll results, Sawant said the party would analyse the defeat in Panaji Assembly constituency, a stronghold of the ruling party.

The seat was won by the Congress, while the BJP managed to win from Shiroda, Mandrem and Mapusa Assembly seats, taking its tally in the Goa House to 17.

The BJP also lost the South Goa Lok Sabha seat to the Congress.

"The organisation in Panaji will be built extensively to ensure victory in the next polls. We are still trying to analyse how Panaji voters gave lead to BJP in the Lok Sabha polls but not so in the bypoll," Sawant said.