In 2017 too, Congress committed the same mistakes, and despite being the single largest party with 17 seats, just four short of the majority, it failed to form the government.
Whereas the BJP, which had just 13 seats, managed to stitch an alliance with the party, which were considered their rivals.
Congress was left behind in the race to form a government was mainly because it had not stitched an alliance with other parties & Independents.
It seems Congress is repeating the same mistake it did in 2017, though some talks are going on behind the curtains this time.
SURAJ NANDREKAR
Editor, Goemkarponn
The elections to the Goa Legislative Assembly elections are just a few months away; the Congress party does not seem to be in the poll mode despite the public sentiment being against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
While the Aam Aadmi Party and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) have intensified their poll pitch, the Congress is always unsure of candidates and alliances.
Since August, after senior leader P Chidambaram was appointed the Goa incharge, several meetings and discussions have materialised, but none have materialised.
Meanwhile, Goa is abuzz with parties making overtures to each other for pre-poll alliances and leaders holding closed-door talks.
However, the principal opposition party, the Congress, is lagging behind in action. The party says it has initiated formal alliance talks with regional parties like the Goa Forward Party and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, but there has been no development further.
Shockingly, Congress seems to be again conceding the early advantage it has over the BJP.
In 2017 too, Congress committed the same mistakes, and despite being the single largest party with 17 seats, just four short of the majority, it failed to form the government.
Whereas the BJP, which had just 13 seats, managed to stitch an alliance with the party, which were considered their rivals.
Congress was left behind in the race to form a government was mainly because it had not stitched an alliance with other parties & Independents.
It seems Congress is repeating the same mistake it did in 2017, though some talks are going on behind the curtains this time. But, they (the Congress) are indeed doing but its own slow pace.
The Goa Forward Party (GFP), a former BJP ally, has been waiting for a Congress reply for a long time now.
The GFP toyed with the idea of tying up with TMC, which failed miserably.
Is it that Congress is taking it for granted once again that the GFP and MGP would not tie-up with BJP again in future since they were unceremoniously dropped from the government?
The GFP had earlier approached the Congress for a possible alliance to take on the BJP, but the party did not respond, though GFP founder Vijai Sardesai kept setting deadlines to make a decision on his proposal.
Meanwhile, the BJP has made overtures to Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), another former ally that it had spurned by getting two of its three MLAs to join it in 2019.
Last week, after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Goa, BJP Goa president Sadanand Shet Tanavade said the party was open to alliance talks with regional parties to “protect Goemkarponn (Goan culture)”.
The MGP, however, has so far ruled out an alliance with the BJP saying it could be suicidal.
The party, which was in talks for an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has ruled out any tie-up with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party too.
MGP it is learnt that it won’t have an outright alliance with Congress, but we are open to an arrangement where we support each other on certain seats
Needless to say, Congress has a good chance this time, but they need to get our act together and fast track things.