MARGAO
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee chief Girish Chodankar’s statement stressing the need to forge an alliance with “80 per cent of the Goan population” has raised a critical question: How does the Congress intend to pursue such an alliance — with like-minded political parties or directly with the people?
The Congress leadership may also have to grapple with a more fundamental question: Can it cross the magic figure of 21 seats on its own, without an electoral tie-up with opposition parties such as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Goa Forward Party (GFP) and Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP), which currently have two and one seats, respectively, in the Goa Legislative Assembly?
Chodankar’s remarks come as there are growing rumblings among like-minded parties over the possibility of an opposition alliance. His statement came close on the heels of AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s reiteration that “a vote for Congress is a vote for the BJP”, as well as the Goa Forward Party’s decision to suspend all alliance talks with the Congress.
Chodankar’s remarks could also be interpreted as an indication that the principal Opposition party is prepared to go it alone if efforts to forge a broader alliance fail.
Salcete arithmetic and opposition unity
Home to a significant minority population, Salcete has eight Assembly constituencies—a block of seats that no political party can afford to ignore in its electoral calculations.
Chodankar’s “80 per cent” electorate alliance may have been prompted, in part, by the Congress’s resurgence in minority-dominated Salcete during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the December 2025 Zilla Panchayat polls. In both elections, the Congress bounced back into contention after suffering a major setback in the 2022 Assembly elections, when it won only three of Salcete’s eight seats.
Yet, therein lies the challenge. Can the Congress afford to take the risk of going it alone?
A solo contest would require the party to overcome the challenge posed by the AAP and Goa Forward in at least four constituencies—Benaulim and Velim, currently represented by the AAP; Fatorda, held by Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai; and Curtorim, where both the AAP and Goa Forward have been seeking to strengthen their position ahead of the 2027 polls.
For the Congress, therefore, the question is not merely whether it can build an alliance with “80 per cent of Goans”, but whether that broad-based appeal can translate into votes and seats without a seat-sharing arrangement with parties that have established pockets of influence in key constituencies.
Bigger challenge in South Goa
The 2024 South Goa Lok Sabha election results showed that the Congress retained its traditional hold over Salcete, as well as Quepem, represented by Congress MLA Altone D’Costa. The party subsequently repeated its strong showing in Salcete in the 2025 Zilla Panchayat elections, where the Congress-Goa Forward alliance made a clean sweep.
However, the Congress faces a far tougher task in the remaining 12 Assembly constituencies spread across Mormugao, Ponda, Sanguem and Canacona. For, the party failed to make significant inroads into the BJP-MGP strongholds in these areas during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and again in the 2025 Zilla Panchayat polls.
That raises a larger question for the Congress: Can it, without the cushion of an alliance, make substantial gains across all 20 Assembly constituencies in South Goa?
While the party has demonstrated that it can regain lost ground in Salcete, the electoral map beyond the taluka remains considerably more challenging. For the Congress, therefore, the 2027 battle is not merely about consolidating its gains in Salcete. It is about determining whether the party can translate its recent resurgence into a broader electoral breakthrough across South Goa—and, crucially, whether it can do so without the support of its potential opposition allies.
