Why non-Congress 'Goa First' third front may be developing cold feet

Goa Forward Party chief Vijai Sardesai has renewed calls for a grand alliance of Opposition forces, including Congress, to take on the ruling BJP in pollsWithin weeks of it taking shape as a non-Congress, non-BJP alliance in poll-bound Goa, the future of the ‘Goa First’ front, comprising of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Goa Forward Party (GFP), seems to be uncertain.This comes on the back of GFP president Vijai Sardesai seemingly developing second thoughts on being part of a non-Congress Opposition alliance and his renewed calls for a ‘grand alliance’ of Opposition forces, including the Congress, to take on the Dr Pramod Sawant-led government in elections due early next year.The development may be prompted by the situation in Sardesai’s assembly constituency Fatorda near Madgaon, where he may be caught in a pincer between the BJP and Congress in case he goes to the hustings as part of the third front. It is believed that he may be the first casualty of this front, say analysts.AAP has two MLAs, namely Venzy Viegas (Benaulim) and Cruz Silva (Velim), while Sardesai is the GFP’s sole MLA in the 40-member legislative assembly. In recent moves, banners put up by ‘Goa First’ across the state, and attacking of the Congress and BJP, have been removed. AAP has charged that “the BJP-Congress joint venture has in the last decade jointly destroyed Goa”. Valmiki Naik, president of AAP in Goa, called on Sardesai to decide “whether he stands with the BJP-Congress joint venture or with the people of Goa”. AAP stressed that since the beginning, they had called the ‘Goa First’ alliance as a non-BJP and non-Congress front.While the Congress has launched a statewide ‘Goy Rakhon Yatra’, MLA Venzy Viegas charged that the Congress had been unable to protect their mandate or their MLAs. He claimed that he and his colleague, MLA Cruz Silva, had not defected “despite BJP’s many enticements”.Sardesai has, however, indicated that it was imperative to include the Congress in an Opposition alliance. “In politics [the] voter is the king The voters of Goa want a grand alliance,” he added, stressing that this had to be a “grand alliance involving everyone—all those who are genuinely opposed to the BJP”. Sardesai said hence, targeting the principal Opposition party was not liked by the people.A GFP leader had earlier claimed that the Congress had dragged its feet on an alliance and Sardesai’s proposal for a merger with the party, forcing him to do a rethink on allying with the Congress.However, sources said that one reason for Sardesai developing cold feet on a truck with AAP could be the lack of any strong chemistry between the two parties and also the lack of an organic base for AAP in his constituency, and vice-versa. This would mean little in a transfer of votes—the touchstone of any alliance.A Congress leader claimed the GFP and AAP alliance could add little value to either party.BJP state president Damodar ‘Damu’ Naik, who is a former MLA from Fatorda, is eager to contest again against Sardesai, who is a three-term MLA. The Congress is also trying to take the fight to Sardesai by putting up a strong candidate in his constituency, which has a significant presence of Christian and Muslim voters.This development may come as a breather for the Congress as the ‘Goa First’ front was expected to dent it in the politically-crucial Salcette taluka in south Goa, which accounts for eight of the 40 assembly segments, with about 36 per cent Roman Catholics and around 10 per cent Muslims. There is growing murmur that a chunk of Congress office-bearers may join a new party named ‘Goa Congress’. This party, with a similar-sounding name, is likely to create “confusion” among Congress voters, admit politicians and analysts.A good show in the 20 seats in South Goa is necessary for the Congress to pole-vault to the treasury benches after three successive terms in the Opposition. The party is seen as being weaker in North Goa.The Congress hopes that its nearly-sealed alliance with the nativist, sons-of-soil Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP), which has support in the Goan youth, and front-ranking AAP leaders like Amit Palekar and Pratima Coutinho joining its fold, may help them return to power. The RGP has one MLA in Goa—Viresh Borkar—and the alliance with this party may help the Congress get votes from the Hindu Bahujan samaj, especially in North Goa.In 2022, the BJP came to power largely due to the presence of smaller players like the Trinamool Congress, AAP and RGP in the state. In September 2022, eight of the 11 MLAs of the Congress defected to the BJP. The Congress has lost 18 MLAs to the BJP since 2019.Yugank Naik, academician and analyst, said that the 2027 elections were likely to be a bipolar contest between the alliances led by the BJP and the Congress, with little or no space for the third front. However, the BJP still had social combinations on its side, with chief minister Sawant being popular in a section of the Bahujan samaj.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- Ends