Goa elections: From CM Sawant's Sanquelim seat to Panaji, here are 7 key constituencies

After intense campaigning by BJP, Congress, AAP, TMC, MGP and GFP, the polling for Goa will take place on Monday, February 14, between 7 am and 6 pm. All the 40 seats spread across North Goa and South Goa will go to the polls in a single phase.

These constituencies are Mandrem, Pernem, Bicholim, Tivim, Mapusa, Siolim, Saligao, Calangute, Porvorim, Aldona, Panaji, Taleigao, St. Cruz, St. Andre, Cumbarjua, Maem, Sanquelim, Poriem, Valpoi, Priol, Ponda, Siroda, Marcaim, Mormugao, Vasco-Da-Gama, Dabolim, Cortalim, Nuvem, Curtorim, Fatorda, Margao, Benaulim, Navelim, Cuncolim, Velim, Quepem, Curchorem, Sanvordem, Sanguem and Canacona.

Here are 7 key constituencies:

Sanquelim: A crucial constituency, Sanquelim will witness incumbent CM Pramod Sawant seeking re-election. It is pertinent to note that both the Union Home Minister and ex-Congress president Rahul Gandhi have campaigned in this seat. Interestingly, Sawant commenced his electoral journey with a loss in the 2008 by-election to the Pale constituency. However, he gained instant success by switching to Sanquelim, a seat that he has held since 2012.

In the previous election, he defeated Dharmesh Saglani of Congress by a narrow margin of 2,131 votes. It promises to be an interesting fight this time with Congress fielding Saglani while Manojkumar Ghadi of AAP and Mahadev Khandekar of MGP are other key candidates. This marks an important election for Sawant who took over as the CM in 2019 after BJP stalwart Manohar Parrikar's demise. 

St. Cruz: This seat has assumed greater importance as AAP's CM candidate Amit Palekar is in the poll fray. An advocate by profession, Palekar had gained traction after he staged an indefinite hunger strike to save a heritage site in old Goa where illegal construction was being built.

But he faces a tough challenge as Congress has not lost this seat since 1999. While Antonio Fernandes emerged victorious in the previous election on a Congress ticket, he switched allegiance to BJP in July 2019. Amid BJP nominating him from this constituency, Congress has reposed faith in Rodolfo Louis Fernandes who polled 6308 and 5262 votes in the 2012 and 2017 polls while contesting as an Independent. 

Panaji: A BJP bastion, Panaji has become a battle of prestige for the party after ex-Goa CM Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal Parrikar decided to contest as an Independent candidate. After the untimely death of his father, Utpal Parrikar had made public his desire to contest the 2019 by-election in Panaji. However, BJP gave the ticket to Sidharth Kuncalienker and ended up losing to Congress for the first time since 1994.

Ironically, the winning Congress candidate Atanasio Monserrate switched allegiance to BJP along with 9 other party colleagues just a few months later. Rebuffing the JP Nadda-led party's offer to contest from some other seat, Utpal Parrikar will now take on Monserrate, who is contesting on a BJP ticket. Even as Shiv Sena's Shailendra Velingkar withdrew his candidature in Parrikar's support, Congress' Elvis Gomes and AAP's Valmiki Naik remain in the poll fray. 

Fatorda: Congress ally Goa Forward Party's president Vijai Sardesai is eyeing a third consecutive win from this seat. Sardesai served as the Deputy CM in the BJP government until being sacked by Pramod Sawant mid-term. BJP has fielded Damodar Naik who lost to the GFP chief by a mere 1,334 votes in the 2017 election.

Even as TMC had fielded former CM Luizinho Faleiro from the seat, he withdrew his candidature after being reportedly miffed at being not nominated from Navelim, a seat won by him 7 times. Finally, TMC gave the ticket to young lawyer Seoula Vaz. 

Velim: An interesting contest is on the cards in Velim from where journalist and Goa chronicle founder Savio Rodrigues is contesting on a BJP ticket. He faces an uphill task as either Congress candidates or Independents have traditionally won this seat. 

Filipe Nery Rodrigues who won the last election as a Congress candidate is now contesting on an NCP ticket. On the other hand, TMC has given the ticket to Benjamin Silva, who was the runner-up in Velim last time. Meanwhile, Congress has nominated Savio D'Silva from this seat. 

Benaulim: Veteran leader Churchill Alemao is seeking another term from Benaulim but on a TMC ticket this time. He was the lone NCP MLA in the Assembly who merged the state Legislative Party with TMC in December 2021, thereby becoming a member of the Mamata Banerjee-led party. 

A septuagenarian politician, he has also served as the Chief Minister for 18 days in 1990 besides being a Lok Sabha MP and legislator for multiple terms. Incidentally, Alemao had joined TMC in 2014 as well and unsuccessfully contested the General Election from South Goa before joining NCP two years later. He faces a challenge from AAP's Venzy Viegas, Antonio Dias of Congress and BJP's Damodar Bandodkar. 

Quepem: This seat is of significance to BJP as Deputy CM Chandrakant Kavlekar is contesting from here. While he has won Quepem since 2002, this is the first time he is fighting as a BJP candidate. In July 2019, Kavlekar, who was then serving as the Leader of Opposition, jumped ship to BJP along with 9 other Congress MLAs. Alexy Fernandes of Shiv Sena, Congress' Sanzil D'Costa and TMC's Kanta Gaude are the other key contenders.