Chandrakant 'Babu' Kavlekar and Manohar 'babu' Ajgaonkar
Both the deputy chief ministers of BJP government - Chandrakant Kavlekar and Manohar Ajgaonkar - lost Assembly elections to Congress rivals on Thursday though their party BJP is on course to emerge as the single largest political formation in the state.
Chandrakant 'Babu' Kavlekar lost to his Congress rival Altone D'Costa in the Quepem Assembly seat. D'Costa, a first time contestant from the constituency, defeated Kavlekar by a margin of more than 3,000 votes.
Kavlekar had won from Quepem in 2017 on a Congress ticket. He shifted to the BJP in 2019 along with nine other Congress MLAs and was rewarded with the Deputy CM's post.
Manohar Ajgaonkar of the BJP lost to Congress heavyweight and former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat by a huge margin of almost 6,000 votes in the Margao Assembly constituency. Ajgaonkar, who had been traditionally contesting from Pernem in North Goa, was this time fielded by the BJP from Margao in South Goa.
Meanwhile, BJP state president Sadanand Shet Tanavade expressed confidence that the BJP would win a "clear majority" when the results are finally declared.
The BJP is leading in 20 seats in the early trends over the Congress party across 40 constituencies.