Manohar Parrikar confident of winning Panaji bypoll with bigger margin

Panaji : As on Wednesday, the coastal state of Goa went to polls, a visibly-delighted Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar expressed confidence of winning the Panaji Assembly by-poll from which he is contesting with a bigger margin.

In the Panaji contest, CM and former defence minister Parrikar was in the fray against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's confidante Girish Chodankar.In Valpoi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fielded Congress rebel and health minister Vishwajeet Rane, whose main opponent is Roy Naik, the son of former state home minister Ravi Naik, of the Congress.

The CM cited that 98% of the BJP's voters would be stepping out to cast their ballots. "My lead will increase," Parrikar added. When asked about his chances of winning the Panaji assembly seat for the sixth time, he said: "I can't see any opposition." Asked about putting in more than usual effort in the bypoll campaign, than he and the BJP had in the past, Parrikar replied: "Shouldn't one campaign?" "There were general elections when I would campaign all over Goa. Now we are campaigning only here," Parrikar said, after casting his vote at the Masson de Amorim polling booth. "From my side we'll get 98%, 2% may not be able to for some technical, medical reason," said Parrikar, who is contesting against Chodankar of the Congress and Anand Shirodkar from the Goa Suraksha Manch.

Speaking to reporters in Panaji, former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Subhash Velingkar, who is the mentor of the Goa Suraksha Manch said that the RSS volunteers would not support Parrikar."RSS workers will not vote for him and our Anand Shirodkar will win this election, with a small margin," Velingkar said.