Goa Assembly Polls

Goa Forward Party president Vijai Sardesai has claimed that anti-incumbency is building against the state BJP government and stressed the need for the Opposition parties to come together to defeat it in the 2027 assembly polls. In the 2022 elections to the 40-member Goa assembly, the GFP contested four seats in alliance with the Congress, winning only one, with Sardesai getting elected from his traditional Fatorda constituency. The Congress had won 11 seats. Speaking to reporters in Margao on Tuesday, Sardesai said, "Anti-incumbency sentiment defeated the DMK in Tamil Nadu. A similar sentiment is running high against the BJP government in Goa. To tap this, it is incumbent upon Opposition parties to come together and defeat the BJP." In the just-concluded elections to the 234-member Tamil Nadu assembly, Vijay-led TVK emerged as the single largest party by winning 108 seats, while the ruling DMK headed by M K Stalin got 59 seats. Sardesai also said his party has decided to take the h

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Chanpreet Singh, who allegedly "managed" cash funds for AAP's campaign in the 2022 Goa Assembly polls, in connection with the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case, official sources said on Monday. The Aam Aadmi Party alleged the ED was carrying out a "politically motivated" probe and it was unable to recover a single rupee or find evidence in the matter. Singh was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on April 12 and was produced before a special court here the next day, the sources said. He has been sent to ED custody till April 18 by the court, they said. This is the 17th arrest in the case by the ED. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his party colleague and former deputy CM Manish Sisodia, BRS leader K Kavitha and a number of liquor businessmen and others have been arrested earlier by the federal agency. Singh was earlier arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation too in the same case

AAP Goa chief Amit Palekar on Tuesday rejected the claims that funds generated through Delhi's alleged excise policy-linked scam powered the party's campaign ahead of the 2022 assembly polls in the coastal state. Palekar, who was the chief ministerial face of the party for the polls, told PTI that there is no evidence to prove that any illicit money was sent to Goa, asserting that he and his party colleagues in the state are ready to face any inquiry by any agency. The Enforcement Director is fabricating the evidence against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The agency has nothing to support its allegations, he claimed. As per ED, kickbacks received through the alleged Delhi excise scam were used by AAP in the 2022 Goa Assembly polls. It has arrested top AAP leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a money laundering case tied to the alleged scam. Kejriwal is in the custody of the agency till March 28. Palekar said that all AAP candidates spent from their pockets for th

Dhami under whose leadership the BJP had contested the February 14 Assembly polls was the frontrunner for the post.

Meanwhile, caretaker Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, also the frontrunner candidate for the CM post, said that he will accept whatever responsibility the party decides to give him

The government would be in place in 'four to five days', the MLAs also said

The number of women MLAs in Punjab have more than doubled to 13 from six in the outgoing assembly

The outcome of the Assembly polls held over February and March and seen as a barometer of people's mood also saw the Congress' epitaph written on the electoral battlefield

The Congress registered the first win in the 40-member Goa assembly even as the BJP continued to lead in 19 seats till 1 pm

Relations between the BJP and the MGP had soured in 2019, when two MGP ministers were dropped from the state cabinet led by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant

More than 300 candidates contested for the 40 assembly seats which saw multi-cornered fights due to presence of several smaller and regional outfits besides the BJP and the Congress

The Congress has shifted all the candidates who had contested the Assembly polls to a luxury resort in Bambolim village near Panaji ahead of the counting of votes on March 10.

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 if the Congress wins a majority in Goa, it would like to bring other non-BJP parties onboard during government formation, former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said on Monday.

In most cases, people vote for individuals rather than parties

Chodankar said there were no defection fears this time as the Congress had chosen candidates after proper scrutiny

Asserting that there is a silent wave in his favour, Utpal Parrikar, elder son of late Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, said he was a favoured choice after his father's death in 2019.

Reiterating his party's vision of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas', the Prime Minister said that whether it is election time or not, the BJP strives for the welfare of the people

The Prime Minister said that Nehru let Satyagrahis in Goa march to their deaths in 1955

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday termed the Trinamool Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as the parties of defectors.