PANAJI
Going by the maxim ‘politics makes strange bedfellows’ the Congress and the Goa Forward Party formally announced a pre-poll alliance for the upcoming 2022 assembly elections after weeks of either party blowing hot and cold over joining forces.
The deal, including seat-sharing, which is yet to be worked out, was announced by All India Congress Committee (AICC) Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao at at a press conference at which also present were GFP President Vijai Sardesai, Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat and GPCC President Girish Chodankar among other leaders of both parties.
“We have officially entered into a pre-poll alliance with the GFP. Vijai Sardesai had met our leader Rahul Gandhi and had extended his support to fight the communal and corrupt BJP and bring a change in Goa,” Rao said.
Rao also said that it has been decided to “forget” the unsavory happenings between the two parties of the past and to work together.
Sharing of seats and identifying which Assembly segments will be fought by which party will be firmed up after mutual discussions.
“I think this will be a good beginning,” Rao said.
Sardesai on his part said on the eve of Goa’s 60th Liberation Day the alliance has brought up team Goa.
“This is team Goa to re-liberate Goa from elected autocracy that is presently involved in politics of acquisitions and takeovers. What began at the residence of Rahul Gandhi has been taken forward,” Sardesai said.
Sardesai also urged all like-minded forces to come together to defeat the BJP.
The Sardesai-led GFP had fought the 2017 Assembly elections as a staunch opponent of the BJP but changed tack on the eve of the results and gravitated to the opposite side to install a BJP-led government headed by the late Manohar Parrikar, despite the Congress having emerged as the single largest party winning 17 seats.
Sardesai and the other two MLAs who won -- Jayesh Salgaonkar and Vinoda Paliencar -- were rewarded with cabinet berths in the BJP-led coalition government. All three were, however, sacked by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant in July 2019 when the group of 10 Congress MLAs defected to the BJP.
