Parrikar wins Goa bypoll

Parrikar, who polled 9,862 votes, beat his nearest rival Congress' Girish Chodankar, who netted 5,059 votes. Anand Shirodkar of the Goa Suraksha Manch came a distant third polling 220 votes.

"I was expecting to win," Parrikar told reporters after the victory.

While Chodankar told reporters: "I may have lost numerically, but residents of Panaji have given me a lot of love."

During the counting, that began at 8 am on Monday, Parrikar took the lead from the first round itself. At the end of round one, Parrikar had secured 4290 votes while Congress's Girish Chodankar won 2252 votes. At the end of round two, Parrikar's votes shot up to 9204, while Girish Chodankar's tally stood at 4684, giving Parrikar a lead of 4520 votes. In round three, Chodankar won 375 votes while Parrikar won 658. Two other candidates in Panaji – Anand Shirodkar representing GSM and Kenneth Silveira, an Independent, won 220 and 96 votes each. There were 301 NOTA votes.

Parrikar, speaking after the victory, said he will resign as Rajya Sabha MP next week. He currently represents Uttar Pradesh in the Upper House.