PANAJI:
The Congress has alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party’s alliance with the Goa Forward Party (GFP) ahead of the 2027 Goa Assembly elections amounts to a tacit understanding with the BJP.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Girish Chodankar described the recently announced “Goa First” alliance between AAP and GFP as an “exchange offer” and alleged that the arrangement could benefit the BJP in Goa and AAP in Punjab.
Chodankar claimed that the two parties had entered into an understanding under which the BJP would support AAP in Punjab while AAP would support the BJP in Goa. The allegation has not been established independently.
The AAP and GFP have presented their alliance as an alternative political platform ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. The parties have also spoken of pursuing “defections-free” politics.
The Congress leader said his party wanted a broader opposition alliance to take on the BJP in Goa and alleged that the AAP-GFP arrangement went against that objective.
In the 2022 Goa Assembly election, the BJP won 20 of the 40 seats, while the Congress won 11. The AAP won two seats and the GFP one. The MGP won two seats, the RGP one and Independents three.
Eight Congress MLAs subsequently joined the BJP in September 2022, taking the BJP’s strength in the Assembly to 28 at that time.