PANAJI
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday alleged a conspiracy to break the ‘Goa First’ alliance while questioning its new ally, the Goa Forward Party (GFP), on whether it stood with what it termed a “Congress-BJP joint venture” or with the people of Goa.
The charge came amid a fresh war of words between the Congress and AAP over defections, with the two parties taking jibes at each other ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.
Addressing a press conference along with AAP MLAs Cruz Silva and Venzy Viegas, AAP Goa president Valmiki Naik said the ‘Goa First’ alliance, announced on September 13, remained open to all political parties except the Congress and BJP.
“Goa First is open to all, excluding the Congress and BJP. There are conspiracies to break the alliance. Those who want no defections and no corruption can join the alliance,” Naik said.
He alleged that the Congress and BJP had together “destroyed” Goa over the past decade and accused the two parties of facilitating defections. Naik also directly targeted GFP chief Vijai Sardesai, saying, “he needs to decide whether he stands with the BJP-Congress joint venture or the people of Goa.”
AAP and GFP had announced the alliance in September in the presence of AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal. While the alliance has been projected as a non-Congress, non-BJP front, Sardesai had subsequently clarified that ‘Goa First’ was not a strictly non-Congress alliance and that GFP was open to joining hands with like-minded parties seeking to defeat the BJP.
Naik alleged that defections between the Congress and BJP had become a recurring feature of Goa politics and would continue ahead of the 2027 elections.
“If we look at the last 40 years, they are full of defections. If we see history, only two parties-Congress and BJP facilitate defections. For the last 10 years, there has been a complete mockery of democracy. There is a joint venture of the Congress and BJP,” he alleged.
AAP also accused the Congress of indirectly helping the BJP retain power and claimed that the Opposition party could face another round of defections. The party pointed to Girish Chodankar's return as Goa Congress chief, noting that he had headed the party during the major defections in 2019 and 2022.
AAP has two MLAs in the 40-member Assembly, while GFP has one. GFP had been an alliance partner of the Congress in the 2022 Assembly elections and has currently stalled all talks with the INC for pre-poll ties for the 2027 polls.
