OVERCOMING anti-incumbency, the BJP on Thursday emerged as the single largest party in Goa by winning 20 Assembly seats, just one shy of the halfway mark, and quickly enlisted the support of regional outfit MGP and three Independent MLAs to form its Government for a third consecutive term in the State. The tally of 20 was an improvement from 2017, when the BJP had won 13 seats in the 40-member Assembly, where the simple majority mark is 21.

 

The Congress won 11 seats, down from 17 five years ago, and its ally Goa Forward Party (GFP) one, according to data on the EC website. Three Independents also made it to the Assembly. The AAP and the MGP won two seats each, while the Revolutionary Goans Party bagged one seat, the data showed. The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC, which had a pre-poll alliance with the MGP and carried out a high-decibel campaign ahead of the February 14 polls, drew a blank.