By IANS
Panaji : Amid monsoon showers, Goans voted Saturday to elect a new 40-member assembly in what is expected to be a keen battle between the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Over one million voters are eligible to decide the fate of 202 candidates. The Congress is contesting 38 seats along with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Besides Chief Minister Pratapsinh Rane, other prominent contestants include opposition leader Manohar Parrikar, who is fighting from Panaji, Speaker Fransisco Sardinha (Curtorim) and Rane's son Vishwajeet, an independent from Valpoi.
The BJP has put up 33 candidates, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party 26, Janata Dal-Secular 12, United Goans Democratic Party 11, the Communist Party of India 4 and the Save Goa Front 17. Nineteen independents are also in fray.
There are 1,066 polling centers and some 1,500 electronic voting machines. The Goa election result will be out June 5.