AAP, Goa Forward Party Set To Form ‘Goa First Alliance’ Ahead Of Assembly Polls

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Goa Forward Party (GFP) are set to join hands for the Goa Assembly elections scheduled for early next year, with the two parties expected to formally announce their alliance at a press conference on Sunday.

The alliance, which will be called the ‘Goa First Alliance’, is being formed without the Congress for now, although both AAP and GFP leaders have said the door remains open for other “like-minded secular forces” to join the bloc.

AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal is expected to make the announcement during his visit to Goa. On Saturday, Kejriwal posted on X that he was travelling to the state to make a “very big announcement”.

The alliance comes amid efforts by Opposition parties to take on the BJP in the 40-member Goa Assembly.

AAP, GFP Blame Congress For Delayed Opposition Unity

Senior leaders of both parties said an alliance was necessary to challenge the BJP and accused the Congress of delaying efforts to build a joint Opposition front.

A senior AAP leader said there was a strong anti-BJP sentiment in Goa and argued that the Congress, as the largest Opposition party, should have taken the initiative to form an alliance.

“Elections are not fought in the last three months,” the leader said, stressing that political parties need time to prepare voters and their organisation ahead of the polls.

The leader added that both AAP and GFP remained interested in bringing the Congress into a broader alliance, but said they could not keep waiting for a decision.

‘Defections’ Become Key Issue

The question of Congress defections has emerged as one of the major factors behind the decision to proceed with an AAP-GFP alliance.

The GFP had held discussions with Congress leaders earlier last month over a possible alliance, but the talks did not result in an agreement.

A senior GFP leader accused the Congress of having “supplied” 18 MLAs who later defected to the BJP over the past seven years.

The leader said such defections had helped the BJP consolidate power despite the party not initially receiving a complete mandate from voters.

“We are first off the block,” the GFP leader said, arguing that voters seeking an alternative to the BJP could not rely on parties whose legislators might later defect.

BJP Won 20 Seats In 2022

The BJP emerged as the single-largest party in the 2022 Goa Assembly elections, winning 20 of the 40 seats. The Congress won 11 seats.

However, eight Congress MLAs joined the BJP in September 2022, reducing the Congress' strength in the Assembly to three. Earlier, in 2019, 10 Congress MLAs had also defected to the BJP.

The GFP, led by MLA Vijai Sardesai, contested the 2022 polls in alliance with the Congress and won one seat — Fatorda, represented by Sardesai.

AAP contested the 2022 election independently and won two seats, Velim and Benaulim.

Congress Says BJP Put Up Hoardings To ‘Confuse’ Voters

The alliance gained further attention after hoardings and posters carrying the symbols of AAP and GFP appeared on a road in Goa.

The posters targeted both the BJP and Congress with the message: “Congress and BJP cheated you twice. Don’t let them cheat you the third time.”

The Congress, however, claimed that the BJP had put up the hoardings in an attempt to confuse voters.

Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar said the party was in talks with the GFP and that discussions on a possible alliance were also continuing with the Congress high command.

Both AAP and GFP leaders have maintained that the alliance remains open to the Congress and other parties that share their objective of defeating the BJP in the upcoming election.