The State Executive Committee meeting of the Goa Forward Party chaired by party chief Vijai Sardesai held on Friday.
MARGAO
In an interesting political development, the Goa Forward Party (GFP) State Executive on Friday decided to immediately reach out to all friendly political parties to fight the upcoming elections on a common platform and defeat what the regional party termed a communal, corrupt and vindictive BJP.
The decision to initiate talks with all friendly political parties signals that the GFP has revoked its suspension of alliance talks with the Congress.
The GFP State Executive, chaired by party chief Vijai Sardesai, also discussed the issue of “vote chori”, with the party stating that concrete evidence of electoral malpractice had emerged.
Without citing any specific instance of alleged vote chori, the GFP said in a statement, “We will formally lodge a complaint and escalate the matter immediately. We call upon the people of Goa to remain vigilant and alert. Check your voter details. Ensure that your vote has not been stolen.”
A statement issued after Friday evening’s meeting said the GFP State Executive had decided that all Opposition forces genuinely committed to ousting the BJP must come together and fight the elections on a common platform.
“For this purpose, we will start talking to all friendly political parties immediately,” the statement added.
The meeting was attended by senior party members, including Mohandas Lolienkar and Dilip Prabhudesai.
The Goa Forward Party had suspended all alliance talks with the Congress in September before Sardesai stitched an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on September 13 under the banner of Goa First.
The Goa First alliance later came under strain after Sardesai said it had been formed to bring together all like-minded Opposition parties, including the Congress, while the AAP reiterated that Goa First was a non-BJP, non-Congress front formed to take on the BJP.
