Q: How serious is the Aam Aadmi Party and party convenor Elvis Gomes in contesting the ensuing Lok Sabha polls in Goa?
Elvis: AAP is very, very serious. That’s the reason why our campaign has already started in both the Lok Sabha constituencies. There’s no question of looking back, we have already gone far ahead, our ground level contact programme is in full swing. Our visibility can be seen on the ground.
Q: There were, however, reports that the AAP in Goa was only posturing itself to bargain with the Congress with an eye on seat sharing in the next Assembly election.
Elvis: We were completely insulated from whatever talks that must have taken place. We go by the local situation. People of Goa have realized that both Congress and BJP are two sides of the same coin.
Q: But there were reports that AAP and Congress leaders had a couple of meetings to strike a compromise formula. What exactly went wrong with the talks?
Elvis: There were no formal talks between AAP and Congress on forging an alliance. I and GPCC Chief Girish Chodankar just brushed one another on the sidelines of social functions. No formal talks took place. It is a different matter that the informal talks did not crystalize into formal discussions. The Congress, it appears, has a problem in the selection of candidates, resulting in huge delay. We don’t believe in delays.
Q: Don’t you think that AAP runs the risk of being called as a BJP agent or a B team of the BJP for contesting the Lok Sabha poll.
Elvis: In the Assembly elections, Congress leaders had accused AAP of being the B team of the BJP. But, that argument no longer holds good. People of Goa have closely seen the Congress over the last two years. People are aware of who have exported its MLAs to the BJP. Just imagine a senior Congress MLA coming out openly in support of the BJP North Goa MP and another Congress MLA saying Vishwajit Rane is the right choice for the post of Chief Minister.
Q: Elvis Gomes and AAP had entered the Goa poll fray when the wind was blowing against the BJP in the 2017 election. You could not capitalize on the situation. A somewhat similar situation exist today especially in South Goa. Comment.
Elvis: Well, our ground-level contacts have shown that people are fed up with both the BJP and the Congress. I am confident that the result will be different this time round. Even the BJP workers, who are fed up with the party, no longer see the Congress as an alternative. They see Elvis as the right person and the AAP as a party with the right ideology. Take the case of the mining dependents. They clearly talk that this is the man and the ideology which will resolve their issues.
Q: AAP made its electoral debut in Goa in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, but could not make much impact. This was followed by the party’s poor showing in the 2017 Assembly polls. Do you foresee a turnaround in the party fortunes in the ensuing poll?
Elvis: AAP has witnessed gradual growth in the State. Our posturing must have gone wrong somewhere in the previous elections, but we have managed to win the confidence of the people over a period of time. We have exposed the weaknesses of the ruling and opposition parties, and the way they conducted their affairs in the last two years. There’s been absolutely no governance at all. Compare all this with AAP’s Delhi government, which has delivered on all fronts. In the light of all this, I can say we are different from others. AAP is not a party, but a movement which does not stop after an election.
