Panaji: Most of the ministers in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Goa were defeated Saturday including chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar who lost his sitting seat Mandrem in the Assembly polls.
Six of the eight ministers who were in the fray lost the polls to their rivals, adding to the poor performance of the BJP, which in 2012 emerged victorious in the coastal state securing a simple majority on its own. Parsekar lost to Congress candidate Dayanand Sopte in Mandrem by over 7000 votes.
ALSO READ: Goa election results: Counting of votes shows Congress edge over BJP, Laxmikant Parsekar loses
The party was jolted as its senior leader and forest minister Rajendra Arlekar lost to MGP’s Manohar Asgaonkar in Pernem constituency. The newly-formed Goa Forward Party dealt a double blow to the BJP as its candidates unseated two senior ministers in the outgoing cabinet.
While in Siolim, water resources minister Dayanand Mandrekar was defeated by GFP’s candidate Vinod Palyekar in Saligao constituency tourism minister Dilip Parulekar lost to Jayesh Salgaoncar, also from the regional outfit.
State industries minister Mahadev Naik was defeated by Congress’s Subhash Shirodkar in Shiroda constituency. Another prominent loser was MGP’s Dipak Dhavalikar, who was sacked from the cabinet before the polls after his party severed its ties with the BJP, just ahead of the elections. Dhavalikar lost to independent candidate Govind Gawade who was backed by BJP in Priol constituency.
