AAP, Goa Forward Party announce ‘Goa First’ alliance for 2027 polls

PANAJI: The Aam Aadmi Party and the Goa-based Goa Forward Party on Sunday formally announced that they will be contesting the upcoming Goa Assembly elections in an alliance called ‘Goa First

PANAJI: The Aam Aadmi Party and the Goa-based Goa Forward Party on Sunday formally announced that they will be contesting the upcoming Goa Assembly elections in an alliance called ‘Goa First.’

India News

Former Delhi chief minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, who addressed a joint press conference with Goa Forward Party supremo Vijai Sardesai, said the alliance was necessary since “the people of Goa have been deceived twice and are not in a mood to be deceived again”.

“Till now the people did not have an option apart from the Congress and the BJP. This is the first time the people will have ‘Goa First’ as an option, which is a non-BJP, non-Congress alliance, a formidable alliance,” Kejriwal added.

Sardesai said the alliance is of like-minded parties that wish to defeat the BJP and have no faith that the Congress MLAs will not defect to the BJP, as they did twice in the past.

“This alliance is an alternative to a government that is without ideology, a government that is made up of defectors. Goa has got a bad name because of defections and the people of Goa have been cheated,” Sardesai said.

Kejriwal denied that the newly formed front would split the opposition vote, saying that the party would draw votes from both those who otherwise vote for the BJP as well as the Congress.

“The people who are fed up with the BJP but do not want to vote for the Congress have the option of voting for this alliance,” Kejriwal said.

The Goa Forward Party, a regional outfit in the state set up in the run up to the 2017 Goa Legislative Assembly elections, campaigned on an anti-BJP plank, but after winning three seats, it helped the BJP form a government despite the Congress being the single largest party.

In the 2022 Goa assembly elections, the AAP won 6.77% of the vote and two seats while the Goa Forward Party had a vote share of .78% with Vijai Sardesai being the party’s lone MLA elected.

Goa’s 40 member Legislative Assembly is expected to go to the polls in early 2027.

“They may have come together under a new banner, but Goans have seen this political drama before. Changing alliances and joining hands before elections does not change the reality on the ground. God does not need opportunistic alliances; it needs stability, development and leadership that delivers,” BJP spokesperson Shripad Naik said.

State Congress president Girish Chodankar said that the people of Goa are looking for a government that will protect their interests rather than serve vested interests. “Our message is very clear.: Goa cannot afford another divided opposition. Every vote that wants to defeat the BJP must count. We will work with all seriousness to ensure that the anti-BJP vote is consolidated and that the BJP is removed from power in 2027,” he said.