the goan I network
CANACONA
Counting of votes for the Canacona assembly constituency will be one of the most eagerly anticipated result, given the intense drama, rivalry, rebellion and campaigning before the polls.
All three leading contenders, former minister and rebel independent candidate Ramesh Tawadkar, Vijay Poi Khot (BJP) and Isidore Fernandes (Congress) are confident of pulling off a victory after claiming to have had the support of maximum voters.
In fact, all three candidates had even worked out village-wise votes that they would have polled, to justify their claims to victory.
“I will be through,” stated Tawadkar, while sounding confident about the outcome of the polls.
While Tawadkar’s camp expects to poll 10,795 votes to seal his victory, Khot’s BJP camp was equally ecstatic that nothing less than 12,800 votes would be in their kitty.
The BJP camp sought to highlight the huge turnout of women voters, which they claimed, would go in their favour, due to various women-specific schemes offered by the BJP.
Fernandes claimed to have polled over 9,500 votes, sufficient to see him victorious.
All three candidates also claimed to have polled maximum votes in Gaondongrim and Cotigao, which is heavily dominated by the ST community.
While Khot felt the high turnout of ST community voters and women folk to the polling booths would work in his favour, Tawadkar also claimed that a high voter turnout in Cotigao and Gaondongrim would benefit him.
Fernandes is also upbeat about the high turnout of voters in these twin villages, traditionally known as his stronghold for the past two decades.
