MARGAO
Goa Forward Chief Vijai Sardesai survived a scare in Fatorda before he went on to score a hattrick of sorts by retaining the seat for the third time in a row.
In the bargain, the Goa Forward MLA handed over the third successive defeat on his BJP rival Damu Naik, who had made a determined bid to make a political comeback after a gap of a decade.
While Damu ended his campaign with 9536 votes, Sardesai polled 11063 votes and tasted victory by a margin of 1527 votes.
Interestingly, though the Congress was not in the fray after the party had conceded the seat to the Goa Forward as part of the alliance deal, parties such as the Revolutionary Goans, Aam Aadmi Party and the Trinamool Congress party together polled around 3000 votes.
Political observers say the impressive performance put by RGP candidate Adv Valerie Fernandes, who polled 1556 votes, coupled with the 1050 votes polled by AAP candidate Sandesh Telekar has come as a big surprise for the Goa Forward chief who was expecting the three parties to poll around 1000 votes. TMC candidate Adv Seoula Vas polled 635 votes.
Commenting on his victory, Sardesai said the results are below his expectations, as he was hoping for a victory with a big margin. “The RGP, AAP and TMC have polled beyond our calculations. We will introspect on the situation,” he said.
..Says oppn failed to honour sentiment of common man
MARGAO: Goa Forward Chief Vijai Sardesai has said that he had forewarned that the failure of opposition parties to project a strong, combined united force against BJP will lead to the situation Goa finds itself in.
Commenting on the outcome of the results, Sardesai said the sentiment of the common Goemkar which is still against the incumbent government has not been honoured by the opposition parties. “This unfortunate situation that’s seen all over India is now reflected in Goa. This is a time for introspection,” he added.
