UGDP’s defunct office in Margao.
MARGAO
Some members of the United Goans Democratic Party (UGDP) are believed to have approached the Election Commission of India with a plea for the revival of the regional party, which had been de-registered some time ago.
In another development, former minister Mickky Pacheco, who returned to the Goa Vikas Party a month ago, has told the media that he has joined the UGDP and is now an executive member of the regional party.
Incidentally, the party’s senior leaders, secretary general Adv Anacleto Viegas and party ideologue Adv Radharao Gracias, say there is no plan at present to revive the party ahead of the upcoming Assembly election.
Radharao, however, told The Goan that some members had approached the Election Commission of India for the revival of the party in view of the ECI’s earlier decision to de-register the regional party.
“As of now, there’s no move to revive the party and contest the upcoming election. But it is a fact that some members have applied to the ECI for the revival of the party. The party had over a year ago issued a notice for de-registration of the regional party. Since the party had not been active on the ground, the party did not reply to the notice. Now, some members have approached the ECI for the revival of the party’s registration,” Radharao said.
UGDP secretary general Adv Anacleto said the party was yet to take a stand on the upcoming election. “We have not yet decided how to go about the coming polls. Let us wait and see,” he said.
In August 2026, the ECI had issued a show-cause notice to the UGDP after the regional party had failed to field a single candidate in any election — whether to the Lok Sabha, the state Legislative Assembly or in any by-elections — over the past six years, since 2019. This indicated that the regional party had not contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the 2022 Goa Assembly polls or the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Meanwhile, former minister Pacheco announced plans to contest the upcoming polls from Nuvem as a UGDP candidate. Rubbishing the Congress’ stand that regional parties are out to divide the secular vote to benefit the BJP, Mickky said Congress leaders were making the claim just to pocket the non-BJP vote.
“In constituencies such as Nuvem and Benaulim, the BJP has little or no presence. In such a situation, either the Congress will win the election or the regional party or an independent candidate, and not the BJP,” he said.
He added: “We don’t need the regional parties to split the non-BJP vote. The Congress is a house divided, with so many aspirants in the race for the party ticket. In the past, we have seen that if one is given the ticket, others rebel and either contest as independents or work against the official candidate. In such a situation, the Congress cannot blame the regional parties for trying to split the secular vote.”
