Goa Election 2022 Exit Polls LIVE: Hung assembly likely; TMC to be kingmaker

While the results of the Goa Assembly election 2022 will be out on March 10, several exit polls have projected that the coastal state might be heading for another hung assembly, much like the cliffhanger of 2017.

Data indicates both BJP and the Congress will end up with around 15-18 seats each in the 40-member house. The kingmaker is likely to be Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, which might 2-4 seats.

Here's a look at some of the key Exit Poll projections:

Times Now-VETO

Congress - 16
BJP - 14
AAP - 4
Others - 6

Republic TV- P-MARQ

BJP - 13-17
Congress-GFP - 13-17
AAP - 2-6
TMC-MGP - 2-4
Others - 0-4

India TV-Ground Zero Research

BJP - 10-14
Congress - 20-25
TMC+MGP - 3-5
AAP - 0-1
Others - 1-3

India TV-CNX

BJP - 16-22
Congress 11-17
TMC+MGP - 1-2
AAP - 0-2
Others - 4-5

NewsX - Polstrat

BJP - 17-19
INC - 11-13
AAP - 1-4
Others - 2-7

Zee News-Designboxed

BJP - 13-18
Congress - 14-19
AAP - 1-3
TMC+MGP - 2-5
Others - 1-3

India News - Jan Ki Baat

BJP - 13-19
Congress - 14-19
AAP - 1-2
MGP - 3-5
Others - 1-3

ABP-CVoter

BJP - 13-17
Congress - 12-16
TMC - 5-9
Others - 0-2

Exit polls do not always get it right. The final results will be revealed on March 10, when counting of votes take place.

Run-up to Exit Polls

The Goa Assembly Elections 2022 has been an exciting mix because new players like the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) entered the arena. While the fight is between the BJP and Congress in Goa, the AAP and TMC could create some upsets. 

To recall, after a rigorous campaign in Goa, the state went into polling on February 14 to decide the fate of 301 candidates for 40 Assembly seats. 

Also read: Goa Election 2022: CM Pramod Sawant confident of BJP winning 22 out of 40 seats

New entries in Goa Election 2022

Goa is currently witnessing a multi-cornered contest this time, with Arvind Kejriwal's AAP, Mamata Banerjee's TMC and other smaller parties vying to make a mark on the state's electoral scene.

The BJP, which has not entered into any pre-poll alliance, is trying to retain power in the coastal state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief J P Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, among others, campaigned for the saffron party in Goa in the run-up to the elections. Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is the BJP's election in charge. 

Also read: Goa Election 2022: What G-O-A means for PM Modi, he explains

Meanwhile, Congress has fielded 37 candidates, while its ally GFP has fielded three. Senior Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi campaigned for the party in the coastal state. The Congress wants to avert a repeat of the 2017 fiasco in Goa when the party failed to take power despite emerging as the single largest in the election.

Earlier today, AICC's Goa desk head Dinesh Gundu Rao said that if the Congress fails to reach the magic number (21), the party is open to getting support from AAP, TMC and MGP. Rao said that after the final result is out, Congress will waste no time electing its Leader. "If Congress gets a majority, we will stake claim to form a government the same day," he added. 

To contest the polls, the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC has tied up with the MGP. The Shiv Sena and the NCP had also announced their pre-poll alliance, while the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP is contesting without a tie-up with any other political party.

The Revolutionary Goans, Goencho Swabhimaan Party, Jai Mahabharat Party and Sambhaji Brigade are also in the poll fray, besides 68 independent candidates.

Prominent Candidates

The prominent candidates include Chief Minister Pramod Sawant (BJP), Leader of the Opposition Digambar Kamat (Congress), former CMs Churchill Alemao (TMC), Ravi Naik (BJP), Laxmikant Parsekar (Independent), former Deputy CMs Vijai Sardesai (GFP) and Sudin Dhavalikar (MGP), late CM Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal Parrikar and AAP's CM face Amit Paleker.

Voter turnout

The single-phase Assembly elections in Goa saw a high voter turnout of 78.94 per cent in polling for the 40 assembly seats. According to official data of the Chief Electoral Officer, the highest voter turnout was recorded in the Sanquelim constituency with 89.61 per cent, while the lowest was in Benaulim with 70.2 per cent. Goa, the smallest state in the country, only has two districts --- North Goa and South Goa. North Goa registered a maximum turnout of 79 per cent, while South Goa stood at 78 per cent.

Also read: Goa Election 2022: 78.94 per cent voter turn out recorded

2017 Election Results

The Congress won 17 of 40 seats in Goa in the 2017 election, but the BJP, after winning 13 seats, took power with help from smaller parties and independents. Two years later, 15 Congress MLAs switched to the BJP, led by the Congress's Leader of Opposition, Babu Kavlekar, who the BJP made Deputy Chief Minister.

Weeks ago, the Congress had even made its Goa candidates take an oath of allegiance in party leader Rahul Gandhi's presence. However, will this symbolic gesture be enough to hold back its MLAs when the race for power begins?