Opposition parties Congress and the Goa Forward Party (GFP) have begun preliminary talks on forging an alliance for the 2027 Goa Assembly elections, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also expressed willingness to join hands with like-minded parties to take on the BJP, reported PTI.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Girish Chodankar told PTI on Sunday that he had held discussions with GFP chief Vijai Sardesai on the possibility of reviving their alliance for the next Assembly polls.
The two leaders met in Fatorda in South Goa on Saturday.
Congress and the GFP had contested the 2022 Goa Assembly elections together.
Describing Saturday's discussions as preliminary, Chodankar said a decision on renewing the alliance was yet to be taken.
"We will be meeting again to hammer out and finalise details, including seat sharing," he said.
Meanwhile, AAP's Goa unit has also initiated internal consultations on a possible pre-poll alliance. State president Valmiki Naik on Saturday met a party committee constituted to examine tie-up options with like-minded parties.
Speaking to reporters, Naik said the AAP was open to an alliance, asserting that the primary objective was "to defeat the corrupt BJP government in the state".
Elections to the 40-member Goa Assembly are expected to be held in February-March 2027.
The BJP currently heads the government with the support of 33 MLAs, including 28 from the party, three Independents and two members of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP).
The BJP had won 20 seats in the 2022 Assembly elections and subsequently inducted eight Congress MLAs into the party.
The Congress now has three MLAs in the Assembly, while the AAP has two. The GFP and the Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) have one legislator each.
Last month, the BJP announced its target of winning at least 30 seats in the 2027 Assembly elections to retain power in Goa for a fourth consecutive term.
(With inputs from PTI)
