Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced a pre-poll alliance with the Goa Forward Party (GFP) ahead of next year’s Goa Assembly elections. The alliance, named “Goa First”, will seek to offer voters an alternative to the BJP and Congress. Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said the people of Goa had been “betrayed twice” and did not want to face a third betrayal. He alleged that both the BJP and Congress had failed the people of the state. “The people of Goa have been betrayed twice and do not want to be betrayed a third time. They need an option beyond the BJP and Congress,” Kejriwal said. He alleged that Congress MLAs had helped the BJP form governments in the state and claimed that the current government was driven by money and what he described as “mafia rule”. “This government has no ideology and is only about money and mafia rule. For them, it is ‘Pocket First’, while for us it is ‘Goa First’,” he said. Kejriwal further alleged that builders and contractors were wielding influence across sectors in Goa and said people were seeking a political change. “For the first time, they have an option in the form of Goa First, a formidable non-BJP, non-Congress alliance that they can vote for,” he said.
The AAP convenor also said his party would be more cautious while selecting its Rajya Sabha nominees in the future, following instances of its MPs leaving the party. GFP president Vijai Sardesai said the alliance would provide an alternative political vision to the people of Goa and claimed it would form the next government in the state. “‘Goa First’ alliance is an alternative that will form the next government in Goa. Since the Congress supported the BJP, the situation in Goa has deteriorated. And for that, we will go to the people of Goa with an alternative vision. And I feel that the people of Goa will support this alternative vision,” Sardesai said.
