MARGAO
The widely perceived “public sentiment” that all non-BJP forces must unite to dislodge the BJP government seems the guiding factor behind ongoing alliance talks among opposition parties.
This sentiment gained strength after the 2024 Lok Sabha election in South Goa, where a united opposition delivered a clear message: united we stand, divided we fall. Opposition unity was visible again during the 2024 Benaulim Zilla Panchayat bypoll, when the Congress ceded the seat to the Aam Aadmi Party despite internal resentment.
Yet the situation ahead of the December 20 Zilla Panchayat polls tells a different story. Among the opposition, AAP has taken a bold stand by choosing to contest the elections entirely on its own, even at the risk of being portrayed as defying the public demand for unity.
Turf wars
The Congress, the Goa Forward Party, and the Revolutionary Goans Party, meanwhile, have publicly indicated willingness to join hands. Yet, behind the scenes, a “turf war” appears to be obstructing efforts to stitch together a cohesive alliance.
Congress leaders view the Goa Forward Party’s claim over the Raia and Davorlim ZP seats as an attempt to expand its footprint in Salcete. Within the Congress, the debate continues: should both Raia and Davorlim — each with a significant ST voter base — be ceded to Goa Forward? Or should the Congress part with only Raia and retain Davorlim? Local party leaders argue that Goa Forward’s demands represent an attempt to expand its footprint deeper into traditional Congress territory, a move they fiercely oppose.
Incidentally, the RGP has reportedly not staked a claim to any of the seats in Salcete. Congress insiders say the party is vehemently opposed to conceding any seats to the regional party in the taluka.
Against this backdrop, political observers question whether any attempt to bring all non-BJP parties — Congress, AAP, GFP, RGP, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) — under a single opposition umbrella could realistically succeed.
Consider the following: Would the Congress have agreed to concede to the Aam Aadmi Party the Zilla Panchayat seats of Benaulim and Colva — both falling under the Benaulim Assembly constituency — as well as Velim, Navelim, and Curtorim, which belong to the Velim Assembly segment, knowing that these constituencies are represented by AAP MLAs Venzy Viegas and Cruz Silva?
Similarly, would the Congress have yielded any seats in Salcete to the RGP, particularly after the party’s impressive debut in the 2022 Assembly elections?
Take the case of the Nationalist Congress Party. Though the NCP had won the Colva seat in the 2020 ZP polls, NCP leaders claim the Congress did not even invite the party for discussions on seat sharing.
These unresolved questions underscore the inherent difficulties of building a cohesive non-BJP alliance in a politically competitive landscape where every party seeks to protect its own turf.
Can there be Opposition unity minus AAP?
Can there truly be opposition unity when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has opted to chart its own independent course by contesting the December 20 Zilla Panchayat polls solo? Political observers, speaking privately, suggest the answer is no. They point out that AAP has, slowly but steadily, grown into a force to reckon with ever since it opened its account in Goa during the 2020 Zilla Panchayat elections by winning the Benaulim seat.
Backed by a strong volunteer-driven network and a promise of delivering 'bodol' — change — in Goan politics, AAP has made significant inroads into traditional Congress territory in Salcete. The party’s victories in Benaulim and Velim in the 2022 Assembly elections underscored this shift, signalling that Congress no longer enjoys uncontested dominance in the taluka.
Today, even as the Congress publicly continues to advocate opposition unity ahead of the December 20 polls, its leaders privately acknowledge a stark reality: in at least five to six of the nine Salcete Zilla Panchayat seats, the party’s principal challenger is not the ruling BJP, but the Aam Aadmi Party.
