70 per cent voting in Goa till afternoon

Panaji, Mar 3: With as much as 70 per cent of Goan voters turning out at polling booths till afternoon, BJP today said it would be able to form the government in the state. By 3.30 pm, 70 per cent voting had been registered in the coastal state.

At a booth in Davorlim in Navelim constituency, a near-cent percent voting had taken place, election officials said. In the last assembly election, this much voting had taken place at the end of the day. BJP's Goa desk in-charge, Aarti Mehra, said the people coming out in huge numbers meant that they wanted a change. "We had received good response during our campaigning.

I have addressed at least 25 meetings and the response to these meetings was enormous," she said, talking to PTI. Mehra said that BJP - Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) alliance would be able to win more than 25 seats.

"The alliance is really working well," she said. North District had registered 71 per cent voting by 3.30 pm, while South Goa had registered 67 per cent. Queues were still seen in front of most polling booths. The voting would end at 5 pm. Congress said that the high turn-out could not be said to be signalling victory of a particular party.

"This is welcome that people have come out in a large number to vote. We are sure that they will be voting for Congress-NCP," party's chief spokesman in Goa, Shantaram Naik, told PTI. The awareness campaign of Election Commission (EC) helped to get the people out of houses, he said. "People feel it is a matter of pride to come out and vote," Naik said.

Of the total 40 seats, BJP is contesting 28, MGP 8, Congress 33, and NCP 7. BJP-MGP alliance is supporting independents at four places. Trinamool Congress is contesting 21 seats. There are 215 candidates, including 74 independents, in the fray.

PTI