MARGAO
As the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the regional Goa Forward Party (GFP) stitched an alliance under the banner of Goa First ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections on Sunday, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: the alliance cannot afford to ignore or underestimate the Congress in any of the constituencies it plans to contest, particularly in minority-dominated Salcete and beyond.
The reason is simple. The Goa First alliance will be seeking a share of the vote that has traditionally been the Congress party’s stronghold. How the AAP-GFP combine manages to persuade voters in Salcete and elsewhere to choose Goa First over Congress will remain a key challenge that AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and GFP chief Vijai Sardesai will have to grapple with in the months ahead.
And that is not all. The proposed Goa First alliance does not necessarily guarantee that AAP will retain Velim and Benaulim, or that GFP will hold on to Fatorda. It is worth noting that in all three constituencies, Congress cannot be taken for granted as the party enjoys voter base, despite AAP and GFP having won these seats in the 2022 Assembly elections.
The alliance is also unlikely to have a smooth run in the remaining five constituencies in Salcete. It will have to again contend with the Congress and its traditional electoral base, particularly in Curtorim and Nuvem, where AAP has already been working with an eye on the 2027 polls.
GFP, on the other hand, has neither a strong organisational structure nor an established base in constituencies outside Fatorda. While Sardesai may enjoy pockets of influence in places such as Margao, Curtorim and Navelim, converting that influence into votes across the constituencies could prove to be a different challenge altogether.
The Aam Aadmi Party had tested the political waters in Salcete in the 2017 and 2022 elections. While AAP drew a blank in 2017, the party opened its account in the 2022 election, having won the Benaulim and Velim seats.
The Goa Forward Party, on the other hand, had contested the seats of Fatorda and Velim in the 2017 election, with GFP chief Vijai Sardesai retaining the Fatorda seat, while the party’s attempt to expand the party base in the minority-dominated taluka came a cropper after it failed to make an impact in Velim.
GFP’s alliance with AAP raises questions over internal unity
MARGAO: Questions are being raised in Salcete political circles over whether there is unanimity within the Goa Forward Party (GFP) on its decision to forge an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) under the banner of ‘Goa First’.
The questions were triggered by the absence of at least three senior GFP leaders from the party’s State Executive Committee meeting at Goemkar Ghor on Saturday. The leaders, associated with the regional party since 2017, were also conspicuous by their absence from Sunday’s joint media briefing addressed by AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and GFP chief Vijai Sardesai.
While the AAP’s top brass, including Kejriwal, Goa desk in-charge Atishi Marlena, AAP Goa unit chief Valmiki Naik and MLAs Venzy Viegas and Cruz Silva, attended the briefing, Sardesai was accompanied by the GFP’s second-rung leadership.
The absence of senior leaders at both events has fuelled speculation over whether the decision to forge an alliance with the AAP has received the backing of the entire GFP leadership.
Sardesai, however, acknowledged that there could not be “cent per cent acceptance” of every decision in a democratic party.
“We do not point guns at someone’s heads while taking decisions. We are a democratic party. Even when the party had decided to support the BJP to form the government in 2017, I had to face questions not only from party men, but from my family as well. There are bound to be differences in a democratic party,” Sardesai said.
He was responding to a question on the absence of senior GFP leaders from Saturday’s State Executive Committee meeting.
BJP eyes divided non-BJP vote with Goa First formation
MARGAO: The BJP camp is likely to be closely watching the formation of the Goa First alliance, hoping to capitalise on a possible split in the non-BJP vote across at least four to five constituencies in the minority-dominated Salcete taluka in the upcoming Assembly elections.
Of the eight constituencies in Salcete, the BJP enjoys considerable influence in Margao and Fatorda, besides Navelim and Cuncolim, and to some extent in Curtorim. The Lotus had bloomed in Cuncolim in 2012 and Navelim in the 2022 Assembly elections, primarily on account of a division in the non-BJP vote.
Against this backdrop, the BJP may hope to repeat the feat in the 2027 elections if the Congress and the Goa First alliance decide to contest the polls separately.
Political observers say the BJP would be particularly keen on a vertical split in the non-BJP vote in constituencies such as Fatorda, Navelim and Cuncolim, where the party has a strong presence and could benefit from a fragmented opposition.
Even in Curtorim, currently represented by Independent MLA Reginaldo Lourenco, a potential tug-of-war between the Congress and the Goa First alliance could work to the BJP’s advantage. Sources said a contest between the two could pave the way for the BJP, or a BJP-backed Independent candidate, to gain an edge in the electoral hustings.
