Caste played no less an important role in Goa than it did in other States. This is clearly evident from Lokniti-CSDS post-poll survey data. Nearly one-third of the voters in Goa considered their caste identity as a very important issue while deciding their vote. This importance accorded to caste by Goa’s voters was in fact slightly higher than what it was in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand. No attempt at understanding voting behaviour in Goa would thus be complete without looking at how the State’s castes and communities voted.
An analysis of caste-wise voting preferences in Goa reveals that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which secured 33% of the overall votes, managed to regain its lost ground among the Hindu upper castes comprising around one-sixth of Goa’s total electorate. Nearly half (49%) of the Hindu upper caste community in Goa, which mostly comprises Saraswat Brahmins, voted for the ruling party. This was a good 10 percentage points more than the 2017 elections.
