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1963 Goa, Daman and Diu Legislative Assembly election

9 December 1963 1967 →
All 30 seats in the Goa, Daman & Diu Legislative Assembly 16 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	50-70%
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Dayanand Bandodkar Jack de Sequeira Party MGP United Goans Party INC Leader's seat Marcaim (bypoll) Panaji Seats before New New New Seats won 14 12 1 Seat change New New New Popular vote 40.13% 29.69% 17.27%
Elected CM Dayanand Bandodkar MGP

The first elections to the Goa, Daman & Diu Legislative Assembly were held in December 1963, to elect members of the 30 constituencies, in the Union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu, India.

The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party won the most seats (fourteen), and its leader, Dayanand Bandodkar was appointed as the Chief Minister of Goa, Daman and Diu. The United Goans Party won 12 seats, three seats were won by Independents, whereas the Jawaharlal Nehru-led Indian National Congress only won one seat.

Background

After the Annexation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli in 1954, followed by the Annexation of Goa in 1961, the new union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu was established. Later, in 1963, after the passing of the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, Goa, Daman and Diu was assigned a Legislative Assembly of thirty seats.

To facilitate the upcoming election, A. F. Couto was made the Chief Electoral Officer of the union territory on 19 August 1963. The Delimitation Commission of India split up the Union territory into 30 constituencies; 28 in Goa and one each for Daman and Diu. On 3 October, it was announced that the Indian National Congress, Frente Popular and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) were allowed to have reserved electoral symbols, followed on 24 October, by the United Goans Party (UGP).

Election Schedule

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party	100,117	40.13	14
	United Goans Party	74,081	29.69	12
	Indian National Congress	43,100	17.27	1
	Frente Popular	4,548	1.82	0
	Independents	27,648	11.08	3
Total		249,494	100.00	30
Valid votes		249,494	95.82
Invalid/blank votes		10,878	4.18
Total votes		260,372	100.00
Source:

1. Independents included two candidates of the Praja Socialist Party

Elected Members

1. Resigned for Dayanand Bandodkar

Aftermath

On 20 December 1963, Dayanand Bandodkar was sworn in as Chief Minister. His cabinet included only two other ministers, Vitthal Subrai and Tony Fernandes. Jack de Sequeira, of the UGP, was the first Leader of the Opposition and Pandurang Purushottam Shirodkar was the first Speaker of the Assembly.

Since the party in government, the MGP, was in favour of merging the territory with Maharashtra, they precipitated the issue. This led to the 1967 Goa status referendum, where the voters rejected the merger and instead opted to remain a Union Territory.

Bypolls

See also

• List of constituencies of the Goa Legislative Assembly

References

1. "Goa turnout high in first election; Voting Quiet Despite Issue Over Joining Indian State". New York Times. 9 December 1963. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
2. "Article 2 - Goa After Liberation". www.goavidhansabha.gov.in. Retrieved 28 December 2021. The 1st General election of liberated Goa, Daman and Diu, was held on 09/12/1963 ... Late Shri Dayanand Bandodkar became the first Chief Minister of Independent Goa, Daman and Diu.
3. "Chief Ministers of Goa". Department of Information and Publicity, Government of Goa, India. Archived from the original on 24 August 2003.
4. "Pro-Merger Party Leads in Goa Vote". New York Times. 11 December 1963. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
5. ^ "Assembly Election - 1963" (PDF). Chief Election Commissioner of Goa. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
6. Alexandre Moniz Barbosa (12 December 2021). "Herald: Goa 1961 – 2021 Reviewing and recovering". O Heraldo. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
7. "Government of Union Territories Act, 1963" (PDF). 10 May 1963. Retrieved 30 December 2021. There shall be a Legislative Assembly for each Union territory ... The total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of to be filled by persons chosen by direct election shall be thirty.
8. P. J. Fernandes (19 August 1963). "Office of the Chief Electoral Officer - Notification AJSM/IEIRO /63/1185913" (PDF). p. 4. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
9. J. L. Kapur (19 August 1963). "Delimitation Commission - Final Order No. 18" (PDF). Retrieved 28 December 2021.
10. Prakash Narain (3 October 1963). "Notification - 56/1/63(2)" (PDF). Retrieved 30 December 2021.
11. Prakash Narain (24 October 1963). "Notification - No. 56/1/63 (2)" (PDF). Retrieved 30 December 2021.
12. A. F. Couto, Chief Electoral Officer (1 September 1964). "Election Commission - Notification No. 82/3/64" (PDF). Retrieved 30 December 2021.
13. Esteves, Sarto (1966). Goa and its future.
14. Maria Do Ceu Rodrigues (1996). Opinion Poll in Goa - An evaluation of the method to settle the controversy (PDF) (Thesis). Retrieved 20 December 2021.
15. "MLAs - First Legislative Assembly Of Goa, Daman & Diu". www.goavidhansabha.gov.in. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
16. M.R. Sachdev (20 December 1963). "Government of Goa, Daman and Diu - Administrator's Secretariat - Notification No. 1/ADM/63" (PDF). Retrieved 30 December 2021.
17. "MLA Bio - Sequeira, Dr. Jack De, Janata" (PDF). www.goavidhansabha.gov.in. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
18. Gauree Malkarnekar (13 November 2016). "Goa was his life, but Angola was his love". Times of India. TNN. Retrieved 30 December 2021. By 1963, he was a prominent founding member of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, which formed liberated Goa's first elected government, where Shirodkar served as the speaker.
19. R.N. Sakshena (2003). Goa: Into the Mainstream. Abhinav Publications. ISBN 9788170170051. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
20. "Goa: But Not Gone". Time. 27 January 1967. Archived from the original on 15 December 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
21. "Details of Assembly By- Elections since 1952 (Year-Wise)". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 22 December 2021.

• 1963 State Assembly elections in India
• State Assembly elections in Goa
• 1960s in Goa, Daman, and Diu
• Elections in Goa, Daman and Diu