Panaji: BJP Goa President Sadanand Shet Tanavade on Tuesday blamed religious leaders for the party’s defeat in South Goa Parliamentary constituency.
Talking to reporters in Panaji on Tuesday in presence of CM Dr Pramod Sawant, Tanavade said that the votes were swung by the campaign based not he religion.
Without naming any religion, Tanavade said that some religious leaders (dharmaguru) played crucial role in diverting the votes for the Congress party.
“We had not said this in the past. But it is a fact that religious leaders played role in swinging the vote towards a particular party in South Goa,” the BJP leader said.
He said that though the BJP lost in South Goa, the voting has increased compared to the Lok Sabha elections held earlier, including 2019 and 2014.
Speaking about the victory in North Goa, where its candidate Shripad Naik has won for the sixth consecutive term, Tanavade said that except for four assembly constituencies — Calangute, Aldona, St Cruz and St Andre — all other constituencies have given lead to the BJP candidate.
He said that the lead of Naik has crossed one lakh mark, which indicated that the people have accepted Naik with wholehearted.
Chief minister Dr Pramod Sawant said that BJP scored 56 per cent votes in north Goa while they were 45.26 per cent in South Goa Parliamentary seat. He said that the party has lost seat by only two percent votes.
