PANAJI
The Zilla Panchayat elections in Goa witnessed high drama in at least five constituencies where candidates from the BJP, Congress, AAP and Independents had to sweat it out till the final round of counting, with victory margins remaining under 100 votes.
In Rivona, the contest turned into a party duel, with BJP candidate Rajeshree Gaonkar narrowly defeating Congress nominee Sahidnya Gaonkar by just 19 votes, making it one of the closest finishes of the elections. Winner Rajeshree secured 6,329 votes against 6,310 votes managed by Sahidnya.
A similar nail-biting finish was reported from the Khola ZP constituency, where Congress candidate Sumitra Pagi edged past BJP’s Tejal Pagi by just 52 votes. The BJP candidate demanded a recount, but the results remained unchanged, sealing a narrow victory for the Congress. Sumitra won with 5103 votes.
Colva too saw a tight contest, where four-time sitting ZP member Nelly Rodrigues, who contested as an Independent, suffered a shock defeat. Rodrigues lost by a slender margin of 73 votes to AAP candidate Antonio Fernandes, who secured 3214 votes, underlining the growing competitiveness of the constituency.
In Sirsai, the Congress managed to wrest the seat from the BJP with a margin of only 79 votes, reflecting the evenly split voter sentiment in the area.
Arambol also recorded a close fight, where the BJP–MGP alliance candidate lost by 54 votes, adding to the tally of razor-thin outcomes.
