‘We are going to Goa...’: Shiv Sena sounds alarm bells for BJP

After successfully blocking the formation of a BJP government in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena, now wants to oust the former ally from power in neighbouring Goa by forging an alliance with Vijay Sardesai’s Goa Forward Party.

“After Maharashtra it is Goa, and then we will go to other states. We want to make a non-BJP political front in this country,” Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut told reporters in Mumbai on Friday morning.

Raut’s statement indicates party’s ongoing transformation from anti-Congressism to anti-BJPism after parting ways with its ideological twin, ending nearly thirty years of partnership.

Watch: After ousting BJP in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena sets its eyes on Goa & beyond 

“Goa ex-minister and ex deputy CM Vijay Sardesai is here along with three MLAs, and is forming an alliance with the Shiv Sena. A new political front is taking shape in Goa, just like it happened in Maharashtra,” Raut said.

The Saamana editor claimed there will soon be “magic” in Goa as some MLAs supporting the BJP government there were now in touch with the Shiv Sena.

“We are going to Goa…,” Raut said and claimed that people in the state did not like the way the BJP had formed the government.

The developments follow the Hindutva party joining hands with ideologically distant Congress and the NCP in Maharashtra to form a coalition government, which has committed itself to a “secular” agenda through a common programme of governance.

In the 2017 elections for Goa’s 40 assembly seats, the Congress won 17 seats but could still not form the government as the BJP, which won only 13 seats, combined with other outfits to return to power. Since then, the Goa BJP has steadily consolidated and now has 27 MLAs, including the 12, who defected from the Congress.