However, the alliance is marred by internal differences and is seen as having the narrow agenda of making Marathi language the medium of instruction in schools. Still, it will eat into BJP’s votes and in Goa’s tiny constituencies that average just 25,000 votes, a few hundred votes can turn victory into defeat.

So, the party will need the Catholics if it is to get re-elected. In 2012, Manohar Parrikar managed to stitch an unlikely alliance between the BJP and the Roman Catholic Church. Catholics, who had traditionally voted for the Congress, found an alternative in ‘pro-development’ Parrikar.

But the honeymoon ended after Narendra Modi’s rise in New Delhi. As pro-Hindutva voices got louder in Goa again, the Church grew more and more uncomfortable.