Goa Forward Party withdraws from BJP-led NDA citing 'anti-Goan' policies by state government
The GFP extended support to the NDA in 2017 to facilitate the formation of the then BJP-led state government under the leadership of Manohar Parrikar.
Published: 13th April 2021 03:59 PM | Last Updated: 14th April 2021 07:47 AM | A+A A-
Goa Forward Party chief Vijai Sardesai (File Photo | PTI)
NEW DELHI: The Goa Forward Party (GFP) walked out of the NDA on Tuesday, citing “anti-Goan policies” of the BJP-led state government. The GFP move, however, will not have any impact on the stability of the Pramod Sawant government as the BJP has a comfortable majority in the 40-member House, after the party had induced several Congress MLAs into its ranks in 2019.
GFP chief Vijai Sardesai, in a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, conveyed the party’s decision. The GPF had been instrumental in the formation of the government in Goa in 2017. It has joined a long list of the BJP allies which have quit the NDA after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In the run-up to the Assam polls, the Bodoland People’s Front quit the NDA.
The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, another ally of the BJP in Bengal, parted ways last year. The BJP’s oldest partner Shiromani Akali Dal and the Hanuman Beniwal-led RLP quit the alliance after Parliament enacted the farm laws. On the eve of the Jharkhand polls in 2019, the AJSU had walked out of the NDA after the BJP refused to accommodate the over seat-sharing formula. In Bihar, the RLSP led by Upendra Kushwaha had quit the NDA before the last Lok Sabha polls. After the Maharashtra elections, the BJP’s other ally Shiv Sena withdrew its support to the NDA over the CM post.
