A New Front Is Born To Take On Incumbent BJP Govt In Goa

Dashing hopes of the BJP, a fragmented opposition, the AAP and the Goa Forward Party have joined forces to create a new alliance called ‘Goa First’ with the hope to win the 2027 Goa Assembly elections. AAP’s national convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, said the alliance is an alternative to the BJP and Congress. Kejriwal said voters deserve an option beyond these two major parties, arguing that they pretend to oppose each other during elections while collaborating behind the scenes. The Goa Forward Party, led by former deputy CM Vijai Sardesai, is a regional political outfit. Currently, it holds one seat in the 40-member state Assembly. The AAP has two MLAs. Ironically, for the past two years, Sardesai has wanted to merge the GFP with the Congress and had approached the party through multiple channels. In return, he sought either the post of LoP or the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) presidency. The Congress’s Yuri Alemao, who stayed with the party despite lucrative offers from the BJP, is the current LoP in the Goa Assembly, and the Congress was reluctant to replace him. The BJP has ruled Goa since 2012. In 2017 and 2022, it won because opposition votes were divided among multiple parties. Now in its 15th year the BJP government faces strong anti-incumbency. Allegations of land-transfer irregularities and a multi-crore cash-for-jobs scam have surfaced. The Congress won 11 seats in 2022, but eight of its MLAs defected to the BJP. Most Congress MLAs elected in 2022 came from South Goa, where the State’s Catholic-majority areas supported it. The AAP says it cannot have an understanding with the Congress in Goa, as it is the principal challenger in Punjab. Goa and Punjab go to polls in February-March 2027.