PANAJI
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) – one of the alliance partners of INDIA bloc -- lauded the “resilience and team spirit” of its members during the Lok Sabha elections for overcoming challenges in South Goa. The party also acknowledged defeat in BJP’s stronghold North Goa, citing the alliance’s shortcomings or a possibly wrong choice of candidate.
“The INDIA bloc gave an amazing fight this Lok Sabha election. Our candidate in South Goa Captain Viriato Fernandes fought against money power, misuse of administration, and even withstood the impact of the Prime Minister’s rally,” AAP Goa President Amit Palekar said, reacting to the results declaring a 1-1 win for BJP-INDIA.
He attributed the victory in South Goa to collective teamwork rather than individual efforts and further took a dig at the BJP stating INDIA bloc does not rely on star campaigners.
“Our star campaigners, AAP MLAs in Velim, Cruz Silva and Venzy Veigas in Benaulim played a crucial role in securing votes for Capt Viriato Fernandes...INDIA's members and volunteers' resilience and teamwork help us,” Palekar added.
In North Goa where the INDIA bloc faced a setback with Ramakant Khalap losing by over 1.10 lakh votes to BJP’s Shripad Naik, Palekar attributed it to several factors. “Perhaps the organization couldn’t sail through due to some shortcomings, or maybe the choice of candidate didn't resonate with the people,” he stated, adding that Naik, who announced this would be his last election, also garnered significant sympathy votes.
Palekar took a jab at some BJP leaders indicating that internal competition for the Chief Minister’s position led to a higher voter turnout in their favour.
“The INDIA bloc could not reach certain areas, which is where we fell short… We will analyze and take corrective measures in the coming months,” he assured.
“Lessons need to be learnt from this result as we prepare for the 2027 assembly elections."
