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

The AAP and Goa Forward Party announced the ‘Goa First’ alliance to challenge the BJP and Congress in the upcoming Goa Assembly elections.

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.’

Former Delhi chief minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal said the alliance was necessary. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

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. “This alliance is an alternative to a government that is without ideology, a government that is made up of defectors,” Sardesai said.

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 Assembly is expected to go to the polls in early 2027.

Goa BJP spokesperson Shripad Naik called it an opportunistic alliance. “They may have come together under a new banner, but Goans have seen this political drama before”.

State Congress president Girish Chodankar said, “Our message is very clear. Goa cannot afford another divided opposition. Every vote that wants to defeat the BJP must count.”