When asked to rate the performance of the Parsekar government, a whopping 76 per cent of the respondents ticked 'Good', four per cent said it was 'Very good', and 18 per cent said it was 'Bad'.

The opposition Congress is expected to be a close second by winning 13-17 seats in the 40-member Goa Assembly. The Aam Aadmi Party, which recently became the third major party to fish in the troubled Goa waters, may be in for some disappointment with just 1-3 seats.

Other parties in the state, which include the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and rebel RSS leader Subhash Velingkar's Goa Suraksha Manch, may win 3-5 seats.

THE PARRIKAR FACTOR

When asked if the BJP government has lost its popular support after Manohar Parrikar went to Delhi to join PM Modi's Cabinet, 29 per cent of the respondents said it has while 37 per cent said it did not matter.

Parrikar, who recently said he would not have come to Delhi if he was not given the Defence portfolio, was also picked by 19 per cent of those polled as their choice for the Chief Minister.

But incumbent Parsekar led the popularity chart with a 31 per cent approval. Digambar Kamat (14 per cent) and Subhash Welingkar (4 per cent) also made it to the list.

ALSO READ: India Today-Axis Opinion Poll: UP, Uttarakhand, Punjab surgical strikes over war --   Most of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab overwhelmingly support surgical strikes to deal with Pakistan-backed terror, but remain largely wary of a full-scale war with the neighbour, according to a poll by Axis-My-India for the India Today Group.

ELECTION ISSUES

Inflation is the biggest issue for voters in Goa according to 43 per cent of those polled in the India Today-Axis survey. Employment (28 per cent) and corruption (19 per cent) were the other two major issues.