Representational image. PTI
The Election Commission of India has announced the poll dates for the upcoming Goa assembly elections. The EC also took to social media on 10 January to release some details about the elections scheduled to be held in Uttarakhand, Manipur, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh as well.
According to the EC, the state will go to the polls on 14 February, with all 40 seats voting on the same date. The last date for filing the nominations for the Goa 2022 polls is 21 January. The results of the election will be announced on 10 March.
As per the Election Commission, Goa will have 1,722 polling stations in the elections. A total of 11,56,762 voters are eligible to cast their ballots in the upcoming polls.
The upcoming Assembly polls promise to be a tough fight for the BJP as the Trinamool Congress has also waded into the electoral race this time. Through the Goa elections, the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC aims to consolidate its claim as the leading opposition party against Narendra Modi’s government. It also aims to expand its electoral footprint after a stupendous victory in last year’s West Bengal polls.
The ruling party is also facing challenges from the Congress party and Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party.
Furthermore, the Nationalist Congress Party, Goa Forward Party, and Goa Su-Raj Party are also vying for seats.
Many MLAs have switched sides before the polls, reducing the strength of the Assembly to 34 seats. The Congress party has seen the maximum number of MLAs leaving.
The Congress, which had emerged as the single largest party in the 2017 state polls with 17 seats, has now gone down to two seats.
Some of the notable names who have left the party recently include Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco and ex-Goa CM Luizinho Faleiro, both of whom had joined the TMC. Moreover, Congress leader Ravi Naik joined the BJP.
The BJP also saw its leaders Alina Saldanham, Michael Lobo, Pravin Zantye and Carlose Almeida quit the party. According to Hindustan Times, Lobo is the third Christian leader in the state to quit the BJP, accusing the party of changing its style of functioning following former chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s demise in 2019.