The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Goa Forward Party (GFP) on Sunday formally announced an alliance, “Goa First”, for the 2027 Assembly elections in Goa. According to AAP leaders, the alliance will be a “non-BJP, non-Congress” platform and offer an alternative to what they described as “BJP-Congress collusion” in the state. At a press conference in Goa, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal said the alliance would be a “credible and honest” tie-up of equal partners “which will be loyal to the people of Goa”. “Why was this alliance needed? In the past few years, the people of Goa feel they do not have an option. Either they vote for the Congress or the BJP… there is a gathbandhan (pact) between these two parties. In 2017, the people voted for the Congress because they were fed up with the BJP. But the Congress sent its MLAs and helped the BJP to form the government. In 2022, again, people voted against the BJP, but the Congress again provided the numbers and the BJP formed the government. So, people have been deceived twice and they are not in the mood to be fooled for a third time,” Kejriwal said. “If not Goa First, it is certain that the BJP will not get a majority and that most Congress MLAs who get elected will defect to the BJP. This is not a theoretical alliance. We will win and ‘Goa First’ will form the government on its own,” he said. The former Delhi chief minister alleged a “collusion” between the BJP and the Congress in the state. “More than half the leaders in the current BJP government are ‘Congressi’. This government has no ideology. This is neither a BJP government nor a Congress government. Ye kewal paise ki sarkar hai. (This is a government that is only interested in making money.) In Every sector, the mafia… builders, contractors… they are all ruling Goa. Our alliance is ‘Goa First’. For these two parties (BJP and Congress), it’s pocket first,” he said. In 2022, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party, winning 20 of the state’s 40 seats, while the Congress returned with 11. The GFP contested the 2022 Assembly polls in alliance with the Congress and won one seat, represented by Fatorda MLA and party chief Vijai Sardesai. The AAP won two seats. Subsequently, eight Congress MLAs defected to the BJP, bringing the Congress’s tally down to three. Earlier, in 2019, 10 Congress MLAs had defected to the BJP. The GFP had contested the 2017 Assembly polls as part of the BJP-led NDA but walked out in 2019 over disagreements. On the seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs who crossed over to the BJP earlier this year, Kejriwal said AAP’s elected representatives had never betrayed the trust of the people. “It is a matter of regret that our Rajya Sabha MPs left the party… they have betrayed the party. The party sent them to the Rajya Sabha; the people did not send them. But AAP has never betrayed anyone. We accept this is a lesson for us because such a thing has never happened before in the party. Henceforth, before sending anyone to the Rajya Sabha, we will scrutinise and verify the candidate a hundred times,” he said. Sardesai, on the other hand, said the alliance would give the people an alternative that puts Goa first and prioritises the interests of the sons of the soil. “This alliance is an alternative to a government without ideology… to a government that is made up of defectors. The main issues plaguing Goa, which are corruption, rampant land conversions, unemployment, environmental degradation… all have their roots in defections. The BJP did not get a complete mandate (in 2022)… they could not have passed the laws that they have in the Assembly on their own. This has happened because of two major defections, mainly in 2019 and 2022,” he said. “The people of Goa have been cheated. The Congress voter feels cheated because they voted for the Congress and got a BJP MLA. The BJP voter… got a Congressman repackaged as their MLA. We do not want Goans to be cheated for a third time. Even the Congress leadership is not categorical in denying the possibility of this hat-trick,” Sardesai claimed.
