Exit polls give BJP slight edge in Goa; CM Sawant circumspect

Even as majority of the exit polls gave BJP the edge, with some even predicting a majority for the party in the 40-member Goa Assembly, CM Sawant appears to be more circumspect in his prediction

Even as majority of the exit polls gave BJP the edge, with some even predicting a majority for the party in the 40-member Goa Assembly, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant appears to be more circumspect in his prediction of a likely post-poll scenario.

While the BJP had gone into the elections with its slogan '22 plus in 2022', Sawant said that even if the party is stuck at 17-18 seats, it would seek help from Independent MLAs to form government.

"If we are stuck at 17-18, then I feel three to four seats will be won by Independents. Independents tend to support those who are in majority. I am confident of forming the government with Independents," Sawant said on Monday, a day when several exit polls predicted a good showing by the BJP.

The ABP C-Voter Exit Poll has predicted between 13 and 17 seats for the BJP, and between 12 and 16 seats for the Congress. The AAP is projected to win 1-5 seats.

The India Ahead-ETG poll has predicted a near majority for the BJP with 20-22 seats, while the Congress and AAP are expected to get between 7-9 and 6-8 seats, respectively.

According to the Republic-P Marq survey, the BJP is expected to win between 16 and 20 seats, the Congress 9-13 seats, the AAP between 4 and 8 seats while others expected to win between 1 and 5 seats.

NewsX-Polstrat has also pegged 20-22 seats for the BJP, between 4 and 6 seats for the Congress, 5-7 for AAP and Independents bringing up the rear with 7-9 seats.

The Times Now-VETO poll has slotted between 17 and 21 seats for the BJP, 4-6 for the Congress, between 8 and 11 for AAP and between 3 and 5 seats for others.

The India News-Jan Ki Baat survey has also predicted 18-22 seats for BJP, 5-6 for Congress, 7-9 for AAP and between 5 and 8 for others.

The India Today-Axis poll, however, has estimated that the Congress would win between 15 and 20 seats, while the BJP would win between 14 and 18 seats, with the Trinamool Congress-Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party alliance winning between 2 and 5 seats and others 0-4 seats.

Goa Congress President Girish Chodankar also expressed confidence at winning the elections with 23-26 seats.

"The magic figure has been decided by the people of Goa. It will come out in the open soon. We are confident that we will win between 23 and 26 seats," Chodankar said.

Goa has 40 Assembly seats with a majority mark of 21.

--IANS

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