PANAJI
Seat-sharing has emerged as the first major stumbling block in the proposed Congress-Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) alliance for the 2027 Goa Assembly elections, with RGP demanding 16 constituencies and Congress reluctant to concede the number amid parallel negotiations with the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and competing claims from its own leaders and aspirants.
The deadlock has prompted RGP to reassess its electoral strength constituency-wise before making a fresh demand, signalling that the alliance negotiations could face a difficult road ahead unless the two parties arrive at an early understanding on seat allocation.
During a recent seat-sharing meeting, RGP sought 16 constituencies where it claims to have a strong presence, citing its performance against Congress in the 2022 Assembly elections and the 2025 Zilla Panchayat polls.Unhappy with the lack of a favourable response from Congress, RGP, at a meeting held on Sunday, decided that its election committee would undertake a constituency-wise assessment, identify its strongholds and submit a revised demand.
“We are not going to go below 13-14 seats. We have a stronghold in some constituencies where Congress has failed to maintain its presence and where, together, we can defeat the BJP,” RGP sources said.
The party is expected to take a fresh call after Diwali in consultation with its block committees. A RGP leader said the party's future course of action would be decided after these consultations, adding that further talks with Congress would not commence unless the seat-sharing issue was settled at the earliest.
For Congress, conceding RGP's demand of 16 seats could complicate its efforts to build a broader opposition alliance ahead of the crucial 2027 polls.
The Congress Political Affairs Committee has reviewed the progress of discussions with RGP, including deliberations on a common minimum programme, policy priorities and electoral strategy. However, party sources indicated that the leadership was not inclined to accept RGP's demand without considering the larger electoral arithmetic. Congress has already initiated discussions with GFP as part of its efforts to stitch together a grand alliance to take on the BJP. Any seat-sharing arrangement with RGP would, therefore, have to accommodate GFP's demands, besides the claims of Congress's sitting MLAs, established strongholds and other potential winning candidates. “Congress has already started talks with GFP for a grand alliance. All aspects have to be taken into account. The seat demands of GFP will also have to be considered, apart from Congress's own strongholds, sitting MLAs and other winnable candidates,” Congress sources said adding in the coming week some decision will be taken. RGP's demand has consequently raised questions within Congress over how many constituencies could be offered to GFP if it joins the proposed alliance, with the party having to balance the demands of its potential partners against its own electoral interests.
The seat-sharing negotiations are unfolding against the backdrop of the 2022 Assembly election results, which saw Congress emerge as the principal opposition party with 11 seats and a vote share of around 23 per cent. However, eight of its MLAs defected to the BJP in September 2022, leaving the party with just three legislators.
RGP and GFP, meanwhile, have one MLA each in the current Assembly. RGP secured more than 9 per cent of the votes in the 2022 elections, a performance that the party is now citing to justify its claim for a significant share of constituencies.
