AAP chief bats for Opposition unity to dislodge BJP, but Cong maintains silence; questions arise about AAP’s bargaining power for 2027 polls and whether Cong will accede to its demands
Congress and AAP leaders celebrating the victory of Congress candidate Capt Viriato Fernandes in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
MARGAO
When election results started trickling in from Delhi, suggesting a rout of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party, Goa AAP chief Amit Palekar batted for unity if the Opposition hopes to dislodge the BJP in the Goa Assembly elections due exactly two years from now in 2027.
Palekar’s message appeared loud and clear that only a united Opposition can take on the saffron brigade. On the other hand, the Congress has maintained silence on the Delhi election results, where the party’s National leadership has been charged by AAP leadership for playing spoil sport in a dozen of Assembly seats.
Indeed, post-Delhi Assembly elections, a host of questions may come to stare at the local leadership of the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, how to go about in Goa, more so after the two parties were locked in a fierce battle especially in the Christian minority stronghold of Salcete, over a decade now.
In fact, the Congress and AAP had crossed swords against each other in the 2017 and 2022 Assembly polls. In both the elections, the Congress tried to defend its Salcete fort from crumbling. On the other hand, the Aam Aadmi Party made repeated inroads in the minority stronghold before the party tasted success in 2022 when the party managed to breach the Congress fort, winning the Benaulim and Velim Assembly seats.
Take note, the Congress had to also grapple with the Revolutionary Goans Party, which heralded its entry into minority Salcete in fashion, upsetting the Congress applecart.
Much water has flown down the River Sal in the last two years after the Aam Aadmi Party extended its support to the Congress in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as part of the INDI Alliance pact. In return, the Congress conceded the Benaulim seat to AAP in the Zilla Panchayat by-poll, suggesting Congress-AAP bhai-bhai relationship.
Goa AAP chief Amit Palekar’s call for Opposition unity in Goa may reflect the mood as well as the need for unity of non-BJP forces to come together in 2027. Questions are raised in local political circles whether the Congress-AAP bonhomie in Goa will remain intact post-Delhi elections, more so when the national leadership of the two parties are at war over BJP’s rise and AAP’s fall in Delhi.
Future road map for Cong-AAP
What does the future hold for the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party in the next two years when as many as three elections are lining up, including the party-based Zilla Panchayat election this year, the civic polls in 2026 and the crucial 2027 Assembly election.
AAP leadership in particular know fully well that the 2024 Lok Sabha election had resulted in a Congress surge as evident by the consolidation of the secular and anti-BJP vote towards the main Opposition party.
Post-Delhi election result, Goa AAP leadership may have to answer a simple question – whether the party will enjoy the same bargaining power in Goa it was hoping for post-2024 Lok Sabha election after the party’s rout in Delhi?
That’s not all. AAP leadership made consistent efforts to spread its presence in Salcete and beyond on one single plank – successfully highlighting and selling Arvind Kejriwal’s achievements in Delhi, with a promise to replicate AAP’s Delhi model in Goa. Against this backdrop, AAP leadership will be hard pressed to bank on Kejriwal to woo the voters when Delhities have rejected both Kejriwal and AAP in the just concluded Assembly election.
Battle for Salcete: Will Congress accommodate AAP’s demands?
MARGAO: With both the Congress and AAP fighting for the same secular anti-BJP vote space, especially in the minority-concentrated Salcete taluka, where as many as eight Assembly seats are at stake, questions are raised in political circles to what extent will the Congress go to accommodate AAP’s interest in the scheme of things in Goa, post-Delhi election?
That’s not all. With the Congress playing spoil sport in Delhi, with a dozen seats going in favour of the BJP, because of split in the anti-BJP vote, political observers wonder whether Arvind Kejriwal will swallow his pride and give a green signal to Goa party leadership to stitch an alliance with the Congress for the 2027 polls.
Consider the ground reality. The Aam Aadmi Party is presently representing the two seats of Benaulim and Velim, both in Salcete. As is clearly evident from the ground, AAP leadership has firmly set its eyes on the two constituencies of Curtorim and Navelim. These two seats have been the Congress strongholds over the years, but are presently being represented by Independent candidate Reginaldo Lourenco and BJP MLA Ulhas Tuenkar respectively.
Political observers say a lot would depend on how the future developments unfold in the Congress and AAP, more so when it is evident now that a split in the anti-BJP vote in over a dozen seats has cost the AAP power in Delhi.
Even assuming the two parties decide to bury their hatchet and join hands to dislodge the BJP in Goa in 2027, questions are asked as to what extent the Congress party will go to accommodate the interest of AAP in Goa, especially in its stronghold Salcete? Will the Congress be ready to concede the two seats of Benaulim and Velim to AAP and point blank tell AAP leadership to stay away from staking claim for more seats in Salcete? And, whether such an offer from the Congress will be acceptable by AAP, more so when the party has been working systematically in a couple of seats with the hope of increasing its tally of seats in the Goa Legislative Assembly in 2027.
