The Portuguese have to be praised for having kept a window of opportunity, so that sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters of those whose birth were registered in Goa on or before December 19, 1961 could acquire Portuguese nationality and thus find lucrative employment in especially the UK as well as to a certain extent, in France.
Tens of thousands of Goan youth who hail from South Goa as well as places such as Siridao, Agasaim, Santa Cruz and Merces in particular
are now employed in Europe.
However, since these Portuguese passport holders relinquished the right to vote in Goa on surrendering their Indian passports, by a conservative estimate, in the past 15-20 years about 4-5 lakh names have been deleted from the electoral rolls.
These 4-5 lakh voters were mostly supporters of the Congress and so the support base of the Congress has reduced considerably thus resulting in the defeat.
It is very difficult to apportion responsibility and blame for this turn of events because the youth who chose to migrate to Europe in particular were not able to find gainful employment in Goa.
