“Nobody can deny that Congress has a serious credibility problem because of the mass defections of its MLAs. Ten Congress MLAs joined the BJP in 2019 and another eight followed in 2022. Those defections fundamentally changed Goa’s political landscape and strengthened the BJP government.
But constantly reminding voters about Congress defections does not defeat the BJP. It only reminds voters why the BJP became stronger.
AAP and Goa Forward Party have now formed the Goa First alliance, positioning themselves as a non-BJP, non-Congress alternative. Congress has separately announced an alliance with the Revolutionary Goans Party. Instead of creating a broad Opposition platform, Goa is already witnessing competing Opposition formations, mutual accusations and attacks over constituencies.
This is precisely what the BJP would want.”
Goa’s Opposition appears to have forgotten the most basic rule of electoral politics: if the objective is to defeat the ruling party, the Opposition must spend more time fighting the ruling party than fighting each other.
The latest war of words between the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress is deeply disturbing. AAP has attacked Congress over the defections of its MLAs to the BJP, even launching a mocking slogan questioning whether Congress can be trusted. Congress, instead of ignoring the provocation and keeping its focus on the BJP, has hit back at AAP and questioned its intentions.
So the obvious question for Goans is this: what exactly is the Opposition’s strategy for 2027? Is the aim to defeat the BJP or to help the BJP win another term?
Nobody can deny that Congress has a serious credibility problem because of the mass defections of its MLAs. Ten Congress MLAs joined the BJP in 2019 and another eight followed in 2022. Those defections fundamentally changed Goa’s political landscape and strengthened the BJP government.
But constantly reminding voters about Congress defections does not defeat the BJP. It only reminds voters why the BJP became stronger.
AAP and Goa Forward Party have now formed the Goa First alliance, positioning themselves as a non-BJP, non-Congress alternative. Congress has separately announced an alliance with the Revolutionary Goans Party. Instead of creating a broad Opposition platform, Goa is already witnessing competing Opposition formations, mutual accusations and attacks over constituencies.
This is precisely what the BJP would want.
The BJP does not need to defeat every Opposition candidate itself if the Opposition is prepared to divide the anti-incumbency vote. In a 40-member Assembly, even a small division of votes can determine the result in closely fought constituencies.
The irony is that Opposition leaders themselves appear to understand this mathematics.
Congress president Girish Chodankar has said that if serious Opposition parties come together, the BJP could be reduced to just five seats. Whether that prediction is realistic is another question. But the statement exposes the central contradiction in Goa’s Opposition politics. Leaders know unity can dramatically alter the electoral equation, yet they continue to put their own party interests ahead of Opposition unity.
AAP, meanwhile, has accused Congress of targeting AAP strongholds rather than concentrating on defeating the BJP. Congress has accused the AAP-GFP alliance of indirectly helping the BJP. Both sides may have arguments to support their positions. But there is one inconvenient truth: every vote spent attacking an Opposition party is a vote not spent attacking the government.
This does not mean Congress should be absolved of its past mistakes. Nor should AAP or GFP be above scrutiny. Every party must answer questions about candidates, leadership, defections, ideology and post-poll commitments.
But the people of Goa deserve clarity.
If these parties genuinely want to defeat the BJP, they must answer a simple question before asking voters to trust them: what is the common minimum objective?
Is it to defeat the BJP in as many constituencies as possible?
If yes, why are Opposition parties fighting over each other’s traditional strongholds?
Why are they publicly questioning each other’s credibility?
Why are they allowing personal egos and party calculations to become more important than the larger electoral objective?
And most importantly, what guarantee will they give voters that an elected Opposition MLA will not cross the floor after the election?
That last question is particularly important. Goa has already seen the devastating consequences of political defections. Voters can elect an Opposition candidate believing they are voting against the government, only to see that mandate transferred to the ruling side months later.
Therefore, Opposition unity cannot merely mean sharing a stage before the election. It must mean a written commitment against post-poll defections, clarity on leadership, constituency-level coordination and a clear understanding that the mandate belongs to the voter, not to the individual MLA.
The BJP will naturally exploit every division in the Opposition. That is politics. The responsibility for preventing that advantage, however, lies with the Opposition itself.
If Congress, AAP, GFP, RGP and other non-BJP forces genuinely believe that Goa needs a change, they must stop behaving like five different opposition parties and start behaving like one credible alternative where necessary.
Otherwise, 2027 could become a strange election in which the Opposition spends the campaign proving why the other Opposition party should not be trusted, while the BJP quietly consolidates its position.
Goans must then ask a very uncomfortable question:
Are Goa’s Opposition parties actually trying to defeat the BJP, or are they simply competing to become the biggest Opposition party after the BJP wins?
