Goa has maintained its secular fabric of voting despite several changes that have taken place in Goa since its Liberation. The reflection of this secular pattern has not diluted over time, and the electorate has been able to vote across different parties, which is still the trend even now. In the 2022 Goa Assembly election, the ruling BJP only mustered 33% of the total voting share, while the Opposition parties and Independents won 66% of the vote share. From these figures, it is evident that there was an overwhelming majority of voters who rejected the BJP. It is also noteworthy that 16 Catholic MLAs were elected in Goa, which constitutes 40% of the total number of 40 MLAs in the Goa Assembly. It was due to the defection of 8 Congress MLAs to the BJP that it was able to form a stable government.
In light of the Lok Sabha elections held this year, the BJP and Congress-led INDIA bloc shared the spoils evenly, although with varying margins. Looking at the Members of Parliament elected this year, it is pertinent to note that the individual merits of the candidates played an important role in determining who won and who lost. It is also noteworthy that, although the BJP seems to have a better organisational root in Goa, the candidates who won were widely expected to emerge victorious long before the election process was conducted.
Has anything changed among the electorate due to the passage of time? The answer would be difficult to ascertain. In the first election held in 1963 in Goa, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party won with 16 MLAs to the 13 won by the United Goans Party, when the strength of the Assembly was 30, including Daman and Diu. Suffice it to say that politics then was largely centred around individuals known for their charisma, whereas now, it is largely the parties that have become the focus, and the electorate has shifted allegiance to parties instead of individuals, although the individual factor has now become the norm in specific constituencies.
In the recent past, with the exodus of Portuguese passport holders and the filling of that void with migrants from other states, the eligible migrants who have come to Goa have played a significant role in the election process and are now one of the major blocs to have emerged in the electoral fortunes of Goa.
Given the changes that have taken place in Goa due to the infusion of fresh influences in the electorate, it may still be expected that in political circles in Goa, candidates who have worked for the well-being of most Goans could continue to dominate Goan politics. It would be advantageous for Goa if today's politicians protect the interests of the majority of Goans.
