The just-concluded assembly elections in Goa saw candidates and parties bring out their full bag of tricks, the most piquant being a Congress party candidate withdrawing from the party a few minutes before the scheduled deadline for filing nominations.

But the main thing that must be said about this election is that it takes place at a crucial juncture in the history of Goa. All the land of Goa is at stake, not just because of the interests of big real estate developers in Goa, or even bigger national real estate groups, but also from the international mafia. This election will bring a large number of new players into the market of land.

Irrespective of who comes to power, the movers and shakers of the land market will continue to rule. The citizens of Goa have little power to change the terms of this market since the drivers of the market are big finance and Goa has emerged on the international scene as an important investment destination in land. Going by the history of Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore or California, the Goa that we know, where the time is always right for a siesta, is soon to be consigned to history. The regional plan 2011 was a portent. Democratic elections or no democratic elections, the political economy of land will even more strongly determine the nature of the politics of the future.

Having said that, at first glance, it seems the Congress has been able to put together the best political and social coalition. The political coalition with the NCP has brought it dividends — together, they won 19 seats in a house of 40. In terms of a social coalition, two trends appear to be emerging: one, a consolidation of the Hindu bahujan vote, which the BJP was attempting to convert into a Hindutva vote base. And two, a consolidation of the Christian vote base against powerful attempts to split it by leaders like Churchill Alemao and Babush Monseratte. This seems to be an assertion by the bahujans against the BJP which they see, because of its CM-designate, as being a brahmin-dominated party. So while the BJP may have closed ranks and even though it strategised to split the Congress, and did so, the BJP failed to produce a winning social group.

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