Goa CM Manohar Parrikar said in an interview to New York Times' India blog, "Catholics in Goa are culturally Hindu and India is a Hindu nation in the cultural sense". A Catholic in Goa is also Hindu culturally because his practices don't match with Catholics in Brazil except in the religious aspect, a Goan Catholic's way of thinking and practice matches a Hindu's," .
In the last assembly election in Goa, Bharatiya Janata Party fielded an unprecedented eight Catholic candidates out of the 24 Assembly seats the party contested , where Catholics are below 30% of its 1.5 million population..
Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar said that though he was a "perfect Hindu", but added that it was his personal faith and that "it has nothing to do with government", as he identifies the term "Hindu" more as a cultural one rather than a religious term.
Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar said,"I am not the Hindu nationalist as made to understand by few TV media,those instigate the use of word Hindu as meaning someone hating or in competition with the fellow Muslims,those are equally Indian but in the minority as follower of religion Islam.
He vehemently accused certain political parties and TRP friendly few selected media groups, of promoting the divide between the people in the name of religion, and accused that it is very rare to find, "a true Hindu is harming a Christian or a Muslim" ; that is according to him, "it is not Hindu behaviour at all. Hindus don't attack anyone, they only do so for self-defence -- that is our history".