Every night after 8, it’s difficult to find a parking spot along Dayanand Bandodkar Marg. Cars from not only all over Goa but also Maharashtra and Karnataka line-up, bringing gamblers to the offshore casinos floating on the Mandovi river.
Goa has five offshore and around 10 onshore casinos, mainly operating out of five-star hotels. The first thing one sees upon exiting the tarmac at the domestic terminal of the airport is a full-sized advertisement of a local casino. And, every election in the state since the mid-2000s at least has seen the closure of casinos as a major poll plank. Primarily,