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MGP announces alliance with TMC ahead of Mamata visit
“Preliminary talks have been held. We apprised the central committee of these talks. Our central committee has unanimously passed a resolution to align with the TMC,” Dhavalikar said at a media briefing.
The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) in Goa will have a pre-poll alliance with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) after “encouraging preliminary talks” between the two parties, MGP chief Deepak Dhavalikar said.
“Preliminary talks have been held. We apprised the central committee of these talks. Our central committee has unanimously passed a resolution to align with the TMC,” Dhavalikar said at a media briefing.
“We will fight the 2022 assembly elections in alliance with the Trinamool Congress. We had decided that we will go with the party that agrees to our demands, which the TMC did,” the MGP leader said.
The MGP had won three out of the 40 assembly seats in the 2017 state elections, but its two legislators later defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ruling party in the coastal state, leaving only Sudin Dhavalikar, the elder of the two Dhavalikar siblings, as the party’s representative in the state’s legislature.
The TMC also confirmed that the two parties had reached an agreement to fight the elections together.
“With this we believe that for the people of Goa who were looking for an alternative to get rid of the BJP government they should look no further. This alliance between the MGP and the Trinamool is a wonderful blend of both the Trinamool’s fighting spirit and the MGP’s long rooted history in Goa and we believe that this union will take Goa forward,” TMC MP and Goa in-charge Mahua Moitra told reporters at a press conference here on Monday evening.
Goa is heading to polls in February-March next year.
MGP held talks with several parties, including the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the TMC to form an alliance against the BJP, Deepak Dhavalikar said. “But as time passed, it was important for us to make a decision. There are other parties that could join our alliance later,” he said. “The BJP has been trying to woo our candidates, making it important for us to take a quick decision. We have to work to bring a new direction in the state.”
The MGP initially held talks with the Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP after Sudin Dhavalikar expressed willingness to explore the possibility of an alliance with the ruling party in the national Capital. However, for reasons that he is yet to spell out, the MGP chief said the talks with the AAP stalled and remained inconclusive.
“We may formally announce our alliance with the TMC during Mamata Banerjee’s upcoming state visit,” he said.
West Bengal chief minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to visit Goa for her second visit, after her first last month, on December 13.
The MGP’s decision is seen as a blow to the BJP, which has been attempting to woo the regional party given that the two parties largely battle for votes from the same communities.
Goa BJP chief Sadanand Shet Tanavade, however, said the MGP’s decision was not a setback.
“The talks were being held by our party’s national leadership. Nonetheless, the state unit remains fully prepared to fight the elections on our own. If there are others who are willing to come along, we will take them along or else we will fight against them,” Tanavade said. “We have the strength to fight elections on our own even if everyone else joins forces against us. We have proved this in the zilla parishad (district council) and local municipality polls.” .
With the TMC and the MGP coming together and the Congress and the Goa Forward Party forming an alliance, it leaves the AAP without any alliance partners for now, besides the BJP, which is also facing a situation where it might have to go solo in the state polls.
