Encounter with the ballot in colonial Goa (1821-1961)

“Not many people in Goa are aware that elections took place during the Portuguese rule, and therefore, it is the first ‘encounter’ of sorts for many people on the system of representation in colonial Goa,” she says, adding that while the initial phase of her research was marked by challenges, as she gathered evidence from manuscripts, legislations and contemporary periodicals, “it felt like connecting different nodes of a network and reaching your destination”.
The book is divided into seven chapters and thematic issues differ in every segment of the book, but overall, it places greater emphasis on parliamentary elections from 1821 to 1961. The work covers a broad range of electoral issues including guidelines of the franchise in the parliamentary, municipal and parochial elections of Portuguese Goa. The rivalry between the Goan elite on the one hand and the Luso-descendants (mestiços) on the other, that existed prominently in the field of elections in Portuguese Goa after 1821 is explained in this work. Some unfamiliar facts related to the engagement of the Church and their involvement in the system of elections are also mentioned in this book.