the goan I network
PANAJI
The atmosphere in Altinho for miles around the counting booth at the Government Polytechnic was electric with hundreds of supporters of the various candidates waiting to hear the results of each round of counting.
As the counting for Panjim was set to be declared first, supporters of Babush Monserrate started gathering around the Joggers Park area as early as 7 am and the supporters just increased as the hours went by. Supporters were seen carrying large Congress flags and sporting shirts bearing the name “BABUSH” at the back.
However, while supporters were ecstatic as Monserrate kept leading in every round of counting, there were mixed feelings from Congress workers who said that they were disappointed that the party was trailing in the other constituencies that went to bypolls. Even though the verdict was known by late morning and supporters started celebrating right then, many of them hung around the counting booth till evening, waiting for Monserrate to collect his certificate from election officials, so that they could start a victory rally around the capital city. The victory rally, which started at 5.30 in the evening, went on for hours with supporters visiting different wards of the city.
No other camp had as many supporters as that of Monserrate. However, the Joshua D’Souza camp came in second, bringing in many young supporters as the Mapusa counting got underway. Addressing the media while waiting for Joshua to be officially declared the victor, one young supporter said, “We’re happy to have a young candidate represent us. We knew he would win as even youngsters who outwardly gave their support to the Congress.”
