The results for the North Goa (Panaji) Lok Sabha seat were kept on hold after one of the electronic voting machines (EVM) developed a technical fault but the BJP candidate Sripad Naik is leading the count.
Election officials said that EVM from Cumbharjua constituency with 462 votes developed a technical problem during the counting. However, according to available statistics, Naik is expected to emerge victorious over his nearest rival Jitendra Deshprabhu of NCP.
Naik is leading with a margin of 5893 votes in the constituency.
Accepting his defeat even before an official announcement, Deshprabhu told PTI that it was a close fight.
"I am thankful to all the voters who supported me. All the Congress-NCP leaders worked for me but somehow I could not sail through," he said.
Naik said that he managed to score a hattrick beating the anti incumbency factor.