Margao: AAP and GFP on Sunday launched their pre-poll alliance, ‘Goa First’, positioning it as a non-BJP, non-Congress front ahead of the 2027 assembly elections.The announcement was made by AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and GFP president Vijai Sardesai, who were joined by former Delhi CM Atishi, AAP Goa president Valmiki Naik, and AAP MLAs Cruz Silva and Venzy Viegas. GFP functionaries Deepak Kalangutkar, Ashma Bi, Messiah D’Costa, and Vikas Bhagat were also present.“Goans feel there is no option for them as both Congress and BJP are in an unholy alliance. Twice people have been deceived by Congress by providing BJP the numbers to form govt,” said Kejriwal, alleging that BJP abuses Congress before elections only to embrace it afterwards to cobble together a govt.Kejriwal said that the dalliance between Congress and BJP was about being ‘pocket first’ as against theirs, ‘Goa First’. He alleged that “mafia raj” prevailed in every sector in the state and claimed AAP-GFP would offer voters a formidable alternative.Predicting that BJP would fail to get the numbers to for the next govt, Kejriwal alleged that victorious Congress MLAs would once again cross over to prop up BJP unless prevented, and that’s where he said Goa First comes in. He said that though AAP MLAs in Punjab, Gujarat, and Goa had resisted BJP’s attempts to poach them, the party would be more cautious while picking future Rajya Sabha nominees following instances of its MPs quitting.Sardesai said that 18 Congress defectors—10 in 2019 and eight in 2022—had stabilised BJP govt and made it “arrogant with power.” Calling Goa First “the first front of opposition unity”, Sardesai said the alliance had not shut its doors on other like-minded political forces that might wish to join.Asked whether former Congress state president Amit Patkar—whose growing proximity to Sardesai has fuelled speculation of a switch—would join Goa First, Kejriwal was non-committal. “Amit Patkar is a Congress leader,” he said, adding that AAP did not want to break parties or encourage defections. Calling the question hypothetical, he said, “We’ll cross the bridge when we come to it.”
