Key Goa groups driving its power play: Bhandaris to Kshatriya Marathas, Saraswat Brahmins to ChristiansWhile observers say that Bhandaris — Goa's largest caste group — do not vote collectively as a bloc, but given their numbers the community is widely seen as a crucial factor in determining the outcome of polls in the state Written by Pavneet Singh Chadha <https://indianexpress.com/profile/author/pavneet-singh-chadha/> Follow
Panaji | May 6, 2024 12:01 IST <https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMN670wQw_PV-?hl=en-IN&gl=IN&ceid=IN:en>Follow Us <https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMN670wQw_PV-?hl=en-IN&gl=IN&ceid=IN:en> - - - - 1 [image: according to a Lokniti-CSDS post-poll survey of the 2022 state Assembly elections, over one-third of the voters considered caste identity as an important issue while deciding their votes. (Representational Photo)]according to a Lokniti-CSDS post-poll survey of the 2022 state Assembly elections, over one-third of the voters considered caste identity as an important issue while deciding their votes. (Representational Photo) Although elections in Goa are not fought strictly along the caste lines, there has always been an undercurrent of caste playing a silent but significant role in the coastal state’s politics marked by volatility and shifting alliances. The caste factor has not figured largely in the campaign for the current Lok Sabha polls in Goa <https://indianexpress.com/section/cities/goa/>. However, according to a Lokniti-CSDS post-poll survey of the 2022 state Assembly elections, over one-third of the voters considered caste identity as an important issue while deciding their votes. The caste politics created ripples in Goa ahead of the 2022 polls when the Aam Aadmi Party <https://indianexpress.com/about/aam-aadmi-party/> (AAP) announced that the party’s chief ministerial candidate would be from the Bhandari community. While naming Amit Palekar, a Bhandari leader, as the AAP’s CM face, the party supremo and Delhi <https://indianexpress.com/section/cities/delhi/> CM Arvind Kejriwal <https://indianexpress.com/about/arvind-kejriwal/> claimed that the party was not resorting to caste politics but was “correcting the injustice” allegedly meted out to Bhandaris by Goa’s major parties. As Goa’s two parliamentary constituencies, North Goa and South Goa, go to polls in the third phase on May 7, here is a look at some of the major caste groups or communities that play a key role in Goa politics. Bhandari The Bhandari community is Goa’s largest caste group constituting a significant percentage of its Hindu population. Placed in the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) category, the community’s traditional occupation was toddy-tapping and distilling, farm tilling and working in orchards. The community is spread across Goa and Maharashtra <https://indianexpress.com/article/when-is/maharashtra-lok-sabha-elections-2024-schedule-phase-seats-candidates-results-and-all-you-need-to-know-about-maharashtra-general-elections-9161187/>’s Konkan belt including parts of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg. A survey of the OBCs, conducted in 2014 by the Goa State Commission for Backward Classes, estimated the OBC population to be 3,58,517, which account for 27% of the state’s population. The survey put the number of the Bhandari community at 2,19,052, which constitutes 61% of the OBC population and over 15% of the state’s population. The Gomantak Bhandari Samaj in Goa has challenged these figures, claiming the number of Bhandaris to be over 5.29 lakh or 30% of the state’s population. Despite their numerical strength, there has been only one Goa CM from the Bhandari community — Ravi Naik — so far since 1961, when the state was liberated from the Portuguese rule. Naik too became the CM in the 1990s by engineering defections in the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and not by popular vote. Four MLAs from the community were elected in the 2022 polls. While observers say that Bhandaris do not vote collectively as a bloc, but given their numbers the community is widely seen as a crucial factor in determining the outcome of the polls in the state. Over the last two decades, the community has been closely associated with the BJP <https://indianexpress.com/about/bjp/>. The BJP’s North Goa MP Shripad Naik, a Bhandari, plays a key role in consolidating the Bhandari votes for the party. The BJP has again fielded Naik from the constituency, which he has won five times since 1999. Some observers argue that the community has lacked leadership and is spread across the political divide. Arguing that polarisation along caste lines is a rare phenomenon in Goa, veteran journalist Sandesh Prabhudesai says that caste politics has been largely ineffective and that the leaders who have played caste politics to establish their dominance have not been preferred by the electorate. Saraswat Brahmins Saraswat Brahmins make up about 3-4% of Goa’s population. Though their influence on state politics has waned over the years, this community have always been seen as the ‘opinion-makers’ due to their hold over administration and positions of power. Former CMs – including BJP stalwart late Manohar Parrikar and Digambar Kamat – belong to the community, which is considered to be largely the BJP’s supporters. With the BJP fielding industrialist Pallavi Dempo, a Saraswat Brahmin, from South Goa in the Lok Sabha elections, the ruling party camp expects the community in the Margao and Ponda areas to rally behind her. Kshatriya Marathas Kshatriya Marathas constitute 8-10% of the state’s population. In recent years the representation of leaders from the community in state politics has increased. Goa CM Pramod Sawant <https://indianexpress.com/about/pramod-sawant/> is a prominent Kshatriya Maratha face. In the last two years several BJP legislators from the Kshatriya Maratha community – who hold sway in several pockets, especially in Sattari – have been inducted into the Cabinet. Christians The religious identity is also considered to be one of the notable factors in influencing the polls in the state. According to the 2011 Census, Goa’s population was 14.58 lakh, of which 66.08% were Hindus, 25.10% Christians, 8.33% Muslims and the rest from other religions. North Goa, where the Hindus constitute 76% of the population, has been a bastion of the BJP. Christians in North Goa account for only 16% while Muslims are 7.08% On the other hand, South Goa, where the Christian population is 36%, has been a stronghold of the Congress, with the party winning this parliamentary constituency ten times since 1961. The Hindu community makes up 53% of South Goa’s population, while the Muslim population is close to 10%. The BJP has won the constituency twice – in 1999 and 2014 — so far. In South Goa, Salcete – the district’s most populous taluka, which has a 53% Christian population – has been traditionally a Congress stronghold. However, a change in its demographics in recent years in the wake of migration and continued exodus of Goans, especially Catholics who opt for a Portuguese passport and relinquish voting rights, in South Goa may hurt the Congress’s prospects. In the 2019 polls, the Congress managed to win South Goa by less than 10,000 votes, largely due to leads in some Catholic dominated pockets in the belt. © The Indian Express Pvt Ltd First uploaded on: 06-05-2024 at 12:01 IST -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Goa-Research-Net" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to goa-research-net+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/CAMCR53K9Y%2BhgJbNKHbywYxqhZYkXs-feHwis123F0fgKCcr1Hg%40mail.gmail.com.
