MUMBAI: In the Goa Assembly elections, BJP performed better in Hindu and Catholic Christian-dominated regions of the state. It won 20 of the 40 seats and is all set to from the government.
The saffron party won 11 seats in Hindu-dominated North Goa. In 2017, it had won eight of these seats. In Catholic Christian-dominated South Goa, BJP won nine seats to improve it’s 2017 tally of five from this part of the state. In both halves, it did better.
On the other hand, Congress performed badly in the Catholic Christian-dominated South Goa this time around. Out of the total of 20 seats, the grand old party won only five, after having secured victory in 10 of those five years ago. In North Goa, too, the Congress tally fell from seven to six.
The saffron brigade had fielded 12 Catholic Christian candidates, mostly in South Goa. Of them, only four candidates tasted success. Two of them were Babus Monserrate and his wife Jennifer, who was the revenue minister in the previous government led by Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant.
Another interesting aspect of the 2022 polls in Goa is, BJP”s vote share did not increase significantly. In 2017, the party’s vote share was 32.5 per cent.
This time, it went up to 33.3 per cent. However, what mattered, in the end, was the fact that BJP’s seats went up to 20 from 13.
On the other hand, Congress suffered in terms of seats won as well as vote share. After having a vote share of 28.4 per cent five years ago, the party could only manage 23.5 per cent this time. Its seats came down to 11 from 17 in 2017.
“It shows that BJP’s vote share remained intact and decline in vote share cost Congress. Secular votes of the Congress got divided among multiple parties including AAP, TMC, RGP in Catholic Christian-dominated areas. These parties did not have much impact in North Goa,” said a political observer.