PANAJI
After having snubbed an alliance for the recent Zilla Panchayat elections -- a decision that resulted in a complete debacle -- the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has announced that it is open to forging an alliance for the 2027 Goa Assembly elections and is willing to take the lead to make it a success.
Appealing to Opposition parties including the Congress, Goa Forward Party (GFP) and Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP), the newly appointed AAP President Valmiki Naik proposed that before any discussion on seat sharing, Opposition parties must first come together to finalise a Common Minimum Programme (CMP) for Goa.
Warning that premature seat sharing talks often lead to disputes, Naik, in the presence of two MLAs, said the agenda and vision for the state should take precedence over power-sharing arrangements.
“AAP, Congress, RGP and GFP all have their own agendas. The intention of the alliance has to be clear,” Naik said, adding that once a CMP is agreed upon and accepted by the people of Goa, only then should talks move towards seat sharing.
The AAP chief further said that the party is not only ready to form an alliance but is prepared to take the lead to ensure the alliance works.
Naik pointed out that the party has traditionally fought Assembly elections on its own, without alliances, whether in Goa, Delhi, Punjab or Gujarat. The party maintained that its model has always been to present a “complete alternative package” to voters by contesting all seats, fielding credible candidates including a chief ministerial face, raising pressing state-specific issues and offering a manifesto backed by the “Kejriwal Guarantee” for a full five-year term.
Naik cited its electoral successes in Delhi in 2013, 2015 and 2020, and in Punjab in 2022, as outcomes of this strategy. In Goa too, though, the party followed the same formula in the 2022 Assembly elections; it “fell short” and its alternative was not accepted by the people.
Looking ahead to 2027, AAP chief said the key question before the party is whether to continue the tradition of going it alone or to explore alliances, with the primary objective being the defeat of the BJP in Goa.
However, Naik cautioned that an alliance in Goa is not a “simple equation” and that the “chemistry” among alliance partners is crucial. “It underlined the need for clarity on what an alliance government would do if it came to power, stressing that governance goals must be clearly defined in advance,” he said.
