Land rights, environment top election agenda in India's Goa
ABC News
India’s undisputed tourist hot spot and the tiniest state, Goa is voting to elect a new government
GOA, India -- India’s undisputed tourist hot spot, and the tiniest state in the world’s largest democracy, is voting Monday to elect a new government with an eye toward restoring an economy ravaged by the pandemic and saving the environment threatened by an unbridled real estate boom.
More than 1.1 million voters in the western Goa state will decide who among the 301 contestants can help save their ecologically fragile coastal land that is struggling to cope with uncontrolled tourism.
It's one of five Indian states voting in phases in February and March in what is seen as a test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party ahead of general elections expected in 2024. Results will be declared on March 10.
“The locals can’t afford an apartment or a house or a plot of land in Goa anymore since the real estate prices have been driven sky high by those who want a slice of this paradise,” said Atish Fernandes, who runs the popular Joseph Bar in capital Panjim.
