Goa Election 2022: The coastal state is voting in a single phase on February 14 to elect its next government. Goa has a total of 40 Assembly seats. In the 2017 Assembly elections, Congress won 17 seats, BJP 13, Independents won 3, GFP 3. Aam Aadmi Party, which tested political waters in Goa for the first time, failed to win even a single seat.
In terms of voteshare in 2017, BJP got 33% of the votes polled, while Congress cornered 29%.
After independence from Portuguese rule in 1961, the politics of Goa was largely confined to regional/local parties.
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Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party advocated the merger of Goa into Maharashtra. The demand eventually died and Goa came to favour keeping a separate identity.
India's smallest state has a diverse population of many religions & communities. According to the 2011 census, out of about 15 lakh people in goa, 66% are Hindus, 25% are Christians, and about 8.5% are Muslims.
Goa’s electorate has grown by more than 45,000 persons over a period of five years, with women outnumbering men by 31,460.
The last goa assembly election in 2017 saw 11,10,884 persons on the electoral rolls, compared to the 11,56,464 names on the electoral rolls now.
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Only four persons have been registered as third gender voters, two in North Goa and two in South Goa.
The assembly constituency of Vasco continues to have the highest number of voters in the state with 35,139 persons.
The smallest constituency in terms of voters is Mormugao, with 19,958 voters.