PANJIM: The 19-day-long campaign for the Panjim and Valpoi by-elections ended on Monday evening with the stage set for voting on Wednesday. The by-polls will decide the fate of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and Health Minister Vishwajit Rane.
With campaigning ending, Section 144 of the CrPC has come into force in both constituencies, which prohibits the assembly of five or more persons (including candidates and workers) and holding any procession or rally under the garb of house to house visits or corner meetings. The prohibition will remain in force till Wednesday evening.
A total of 51,032 voters are eligible to cast their votes in the by-elections. These include 22,203 voters in Panjim which has 11,555 female and 10,648 male voters. There are 28,829 voters eligible to vote in Valpoi which include 14,503 female and 14,326 male voters.
The election campaign, which kicked off in the first week of the month, ended with the candidates holding media interactions and rallies expressing confidence about their victory.
BJP has fielded chief minister Manohar Parrikar in Panjim and he will face Congress’ Girish Chodankar, Goa Suraksha Manch’s Anand Shirodkar and Independent Kenneth Silveira.
In Valpoi, BJP leader Vishwajit Rane is contesting against Congress’ Roy Naik and Independent Rohidas Gaonkar.
Parrikar had resigned as Panjim MLA in November 2014 to take up the post of Defence Minister. He returned as Chief Minister in March this year and Siddharth Kuncolienkar vacated the seat for him.
Chodankar, was a last minute choice of the Congress after some other party leaders refused to enter the fray.
Rane who was elected from Valpoi on the Congress ticket in 2017 resigned minutes after taking oath as MLA to join BJP. He faces Roy Naik, son of senior party leader Ravi Naik in the constituency.
The Chief Electoral Office (CEO) confirmed that the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) devices would be used for polling. In all 120 EVMs and 120 VVPATs would be in place in both constituencies.
Polling will take place at 74 booths – 30 in Panjim and 44 in Valpoi, with 775 election officers being deployed. Counting of votes will be taken up on August 28.
