BICHOLIM
They may be VIPs on other days but on Monday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Speaker Rajesh Patnekar were treated no differently from other voters who came out in large numbers to exercise their franchise, sealing the fate of 26 candidates in the three constituencies of Bicholim taluka.
Such was the turnout that some polling stations were found crowded till after 6 pm. Despite the crowds at the polling booths, there were no untoward incidents during elections to the three constituencies of Mayem, Bicholim and Sankhali.
Patnekar initially turned up at the polling station in Bicholim at about 4 pm, but when he noticed a long queue of voters, he went back and returned at about 5.30 pm when there was no crowd and he cast his ballot.
Sawant, Patnekar and all other candidates have welcomed the large voter turnout, claiming that they would win the elections.
“I thank all the people of Goa from the bottom of my heart for the overwhelming response for today’s election. I thank all the karyakartas for their hard work in the election process. With blessings and support of the people, BJP will win 22+ seats in 22,” stated Sawant in his tweet late Monday evening.
Bicholim Election Officer Deepak Vaigankar, Bicholim DySP Sagar Ekoskar and Police Inspector Mahesh Gadekar and their teams were seen moving all over the taluka to monitor the voting process.
