Goa has been a Portuguese colony for over 450 years, and the 400,000-odd Christian population is often perceived as 'Western' by conservative Hindu politicians. The MGP, Goa's oldest regional party, has a conservative Hindu vote base with its pockets of strength located far away from the more liberal and tourism influenced coastline, the stereotypical Goa everyone knows of.
For the hundreds of thousands of tourists who land in Goa every year, the vision of Goa is limited by the sea on one end and the palm-fringed beaches and shacks on the other. But tucked away in the hinterland, where the rivers aren't saline, and temples, not churches or chapels, dot the countryside, in towns like Bicholim, Ponda, Madkai and Priol, there is a significant Hindu conservative vote, for whom a demand for a bikini ban or a Hindu Rashtra chorus is considered elementary and a logical argument.
"We should credit him. He has the guts to speak about protecting our culture. We should all back the minister," said Swami Brahmeshanand, defending Sudin Dhavalikar after his remarks triggered a row. The seer has a strong following amongst the Bhandari samaj, which accounts for more than 30 percent of the state's Hindu population.
