New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party and the Goa Forward Party have joined hands ahead of the 2027 elections in the state, announcing a new alliance called ‘Goa First’, and pitching it as an alternative to the BJP and Congress.
The alliance brings together AAP’s two MLAs and GFP chief Vijai Sardesai, the party’s lone MLA and a three-term legislator from Fatorda.
Sardesai has extended support to the BJP, Congress and AAP at different points in his political career and has remained a prominent figure in Goa politics.
Sardesai’s political relevance in Goa goes beyond Fatorda. He began his political career in student politics and later became the president of the Goa Pradesh Youth Congress. He was also co-opted as a councillor of the Margao Municipal Council.
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Why Sardesai matters
After being denied a Congress ticket from Fatorda, he contested the 2012 Assembly election as an Independent, and won.
He founded the Goa Forward Party in 2016. In the 2017 Assembly election, the GFP contested four seats and won three, polling 3.48 per cent of the statewide vote. The election threw up a hung Assembly, with the BJP winning 13 seats and Congress 17, against the majority mark of 21.
Sardesai emerged as a kingmaker, with GFP’s three MLAs backing Manohar Parrikar to form the BJP-led government. All three GFP MLAs were made ministers, with Sardesai holding portfolios including Town and Country Planning and Agriculture. He later became deputy chief minister after Parrikar’s death.
The people of Goa didn’t have a non-BJP, non-Congress option. Our alliance, ‘Goa First’, is the formidable alternative that people have been seeking.
The Goa First alliance is loyal to the people of Goa. We will fight this election and we will win it on our own strength. pic.twitter.com/khfURgSipr
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) September 13, 2026
The GFP withdrew support from the BJP-led government in 2019 and returned to the Opposition. He retained Fatorda in the 2017 and 2022 Assembly elections.
Sardesai has remained an important regional player despite the GFP’s declining electoral strength. The party contested three seats in 2022 and won only Fatorda, polling 1.84 percent of the statewide vote. His political network and experience in both government and Opposition have kept him relevant to Goa’s political equations. His role in the 2017 hung Assembly also showed how the GFP could have an influence beyond the seats it won.
“The GFP may not have the numbers, but it carries considerable political weight because of its strong regional connect and Sardesai’s ability to raise issues that resonate with Goans. His interventions in the Assembly, particularly on issues such as jobs and local interests, have often put the government under pressure,” Professor Rahul Tripathi of Goa University told ThePrint.
He said the AAP knows that it may not be able to build that kind of reach across Goa on its own, so this alliance gives it access to pockets where the GFP and Sardesai already have an influence.
“Sardesai has shown that even with limited numbers, he can become a kingmaker when the Assembly is fractured. The alliance gives the AAP a regional face and a political network that it may not be able to replicate on its own. At the same time, it effectively ends the possibility of opposition unity, particularly with the Congress and GFP having been in talks until recently,” Tripathi added.
What does AAP get
The AAP had a larger statewide vote share than the GFP in the last Assembly election. It contested 39 of the 40 seats in 2022, winning Benaulim and Velim and securing 6.77 per cent of the vote. In 2017, the party had polled 6.27 percent but failed to win a single seat.
The BJP won 20 of the 40 seats in the 2022 election, while the Congress won 11. The AAP and GFP won two and one seat respectively.
The two parties are now seeking to combine their respective strengths — the AAP’s wider electoral footprint and two sitting MLAs with GFP’s regional base and Sardesai’s political experience.
The alliance was announced at a press conference on Sunday, with the two parties positioning “Goa First” as an alternative to the BJP-Congress politics in the state.
“On the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi, we make a new beginning in Goa’s politics. ‘Goa First’ — an alliance between Aam Aadmi Party and Goa Forward Party — to be an alternative to the BJP-Congress collusion that has destroyed the state of Goa,” AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal wrote on X.
Kejriwal further alleged that the BJP and Congress collude to help each other form governments. “The people of Goa have been cheated twice. They won’t be cheated a third time. BJP and Congress may fight during elections, but behind closed doors, they come together, make deals and help each other form governments,” he said.
The alliance also marks a break between the GFP and Congress, which fought the 2022 Goa Assembly election together. The announcement comes just days after Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar said on Saturday that talks with GFP were still underway.
The Congress has also hit out at the alliance, with party leader Pawan Khera calling the AAP the “English-medium BJP”.
“I have already said that AAP is the English-medium BJP. Here is Arvind Kejriwal himself admitting that there isn’t much difference between the BJP and AAP. Appreciate this rare display of honesty,” he said on X.
Goa’s next Assembly election is due in early 2027.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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