'Not waiting for anyone': Goa Forward Party suspends alliance talks with Congress

The Goa Forward Party (GFP) has put its alliance talks with the Congress on hold ahead of the 2027 Goa Assembly elections. The regional party said it wants to focus on strengthening its presence across all 40 constituencies in the state.

In the last elections, the GFP had bagged one seat with 1.84% of the votes.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the party's political affairs committee in Panaji on Wednesday, days after GFP president Vijai Sardesai met Goa Congress chief Girish Chodankar to begin discussions on a possible pre-poll alliance.

'WE ARE NOT WAITING FOR ANYONE'

GFP general secretary Mohandas Lolienkar said the party had suspended alliance talks with the Congress "for the time being."

He said waiting for an alliance to materialise often consumes valuable time and prevents the party from building its own organisation.

"We want to focus on all 40 assembly constituencies. We will now take on the BJP government. We are not waiting for anyone," Lolienkar told reporters. He, however, made it clear that the decision was not final.

"We can start the talks anytime," he said. "The talks can start tomorrow, a week later, a month later or anytime."

CONGRESS KEEPS DOOR OPEN

Reacting to the development, Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar said the party would continue trying to bring like-minded opposition parties together. He said such an alliance was necessary "in the interest of Goa and its people" to defeat the BJP.

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2027

Goa is expected to go to Assembly polls before March 2027.

In the 2022 Assembly election, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party, winning 20 of the 40 seats with a 33.31% vote share. The Congress secured 11 seats with 23.46% votes.

The GFP won one seat and secured 1.84% of the vote.

Smaller parties also made gains, with the Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) polling 9.81% of the votes and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) securing 6.77%, though both converted only a limited number of seats.

(With inputs from PTI)