Congress' South Goa candidate Viriato Fernandes has claimed the Indian Constitution was "forced" on Goa after liberation from Portuguese rule in 1961. Fernandes said he raised the demand for dual citizenship in a meeting with Rahul Gandhi. BJP leader and Goa CM Pramod Sawant criticised him, saying, "Our freedom fighters believed wholeheartedly that Goa is an inseparable part of India."