With just two weeks left to go for Assembly elections in Goa, the Congress may upset BJP's plans for retaining power in the coastal state, according to the India TV-Ground Zero opinion poll for Goa. Congress is likely to emerge as the single largest party in the state. The opinion poll on Sunday predicted 17-21 seats for the grand old party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may bag 14-18 seats, TMC-MGP likely to win 2-4 seats, AAP 0-2, while others may 1 seat in total. In terms of vote share, BJP may get a 35%, Congress may get around 31%, TMC-MGP may bag 12%, AAP 10%, and others may get around 12%.
Congress has tied up with GFP, a regional outfit that was a part of the Manohar Parrikar government in 2017. The TMC has found a regional partner in the form of MGP, which fought the 2017 polls in alliance with the Shiv Sena but later joined the Parrikar-led government.
According to India TV's Opinion Poll, Congress is gaining big in South Goa, the Congress-GFP may get 41% vote share here, while BJP may bag 32%, TMC-MGP is likely to get 12%, Aam Aadmi Party 7%, and others may get 8% vote share. Talking about seats, Congress may win 10-12 seats, BJP may bag 6-8, TMC-MGP 1-2, AAP 0-2, while others may not be able to open their account.
In the 2017 Goa Assembly polls, BJP won only 13 seats while Congress won in 17 constituencies. However, BJP staked claim to form the government with the support of 3 MGP MLAs, 3 GFP MLAs, two Independents and an NCP MLA under the leadership of Parrikar who resigned as defence minister to return to the coastal state. After Parrikar's death in March 2019, then Assembly Speaker Pramod Sawant became the CM. Sawant's administration has come in for praise from PM Modi for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and vaccination drive.
AAP entered Goa's political scene during the 2017 Assembly elections and tried to build a base in the coastal state. In the last few months, many posters featuring Mamata Banerjee's photo and the slogan 'Goenchi Navi Sakal' (Goa's new dawn) have been put across the state. TMC MPs Mahua Moitra and Derek O'Brien are leading the party's campaign in Goa.
Prominent leaders like PM Narendra Modi, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi were in Goa ahead of the elections. BJP chief J P Nadda, Union minister Nitin Gadkari and former Union minister P Chidambaram were other prominent leaders to visit the coastal state.
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