MARGAO
With the Congress-Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) and Goa Forward Party (GFP)-Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alliances ruling out opening their doors to political defectors, questions are being raised in Saxtti political circles over how the defectors will approach the 2027 Assembly elections.
Among the 2019 Congress defectors, former minister Filipe Neri Rodrigues and former Nuvem MLA Wilfred D’Sa have been gearing up to contest the 2027 elections. Their former colleague and ex-Cuncolim MLA Clafacio Dias, meanwhile, is already with the BJP. It remains unclear whether Clafacio will seek re-election on the BJP ticket or support a candidate against the Congress.
Of the two, sources said the Aam Aadmi Party has been trying to woo former Nuvem MLA Wilfred D’Sa to join the party and contest the 2027 elections on its ticket. Wilfred had, in fact, backed the AAP candidate from Nuvem in the 2025 Zilla Panchayat elections.
Against the backdrop of the AAP-GFP alliance, questions are now being raised in political circles over how Wilfred will approach the upcoming polls. The Goa First alliance has made opposition to political defections a major plank and is unlikely to field defectors on either party’s banner.
Former minister Filipe Neri Rodrigues, on the other hand, is gearing up to contest the upcoming polls as an independent. He is yet to formally enter the electoral fray, however, once again raising questions over whether he will ultimately contest as an independent or seek a political banner for the 2027 elections.
