Panaji, Dec. 23 -- The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led ruling alliance in Goa swept the zilla panchayat elections, winning 32 of the 50 seats across the state, according to results announced by the state election commission. The BJP won 29 seats and its alliance partner, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) won three seats. The alliance had fielded candidates in 43 seats. Meanwhile, the Opposition Congress won 10 seats while its alliance partner, the Goa Forward Party just won one. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP), which had previously been in talks with the Congress, won one and two seats, respectively, while independent candidates won four seats. Goa has two district panchayats-North Goa and South Goa-with 25 members each. Polling was held on December 20 across the state, excluding municipal areas, and the votes were counted on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the ruling alliance's performance in the elections, saying in a post on X: "Goa stands with good governance. Goa stands with progressive politics." Thanking the electors for voting the BJP-MGP coalition, he added: "This will add more vigour to our efforts for Goa's growth. We are committed to boosting the dreams and aspirations of the people of this wonderful state. Our hardworking NDA Karyakartas have done commendable work on the ground, which has led to this result." Goa BJP president Damodar Naik said the win was the sharpest rebuttal to the Opposition Congress, which has sought to link BJP victories to the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the past. "Many people had made allegations about EVMs. But these elections were held on ballot papers, and yet, we won, which shows that people have true faith in the ruling BJP," Naik said. Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant said this was a victory for the NDA under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I congratulate all the victorious leaders and assure them that they will work towards development. I thank Goa's rural voters for reposing faith in our party and government," Sawant said, adding that the people had clearly rejected the Congress....