Goa AAP rules out alliance with Congress over defection concerns

Panaji: The Goa AAP unit has said it took a decision not to ally with the Congress after "healthy discussions" over the issue, as there is no guarantee that the grand old party's MLAs would not switch over to the ruling BJP.

The Aam Aadmi Party's comments came after its Goa working president Rajesh Kalangutkar resigned from his post and the outfit on Wednesday, expressing unhappiness over the central leadership's stand of not forging an alliance with other Opposition parties for the 2027 assembly polls.

He claimed AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal's stand means Opposition votes will get divided in the state, thereby benefitting the ruling BJP.

During his just-concluded visit to Goa, Kejriwal made it clear that his outfit will not ally with any other political party in the coastal state, where the BJP is in power for 13 years now.

AAP Goa president Amit Palekar, in a statement issued on Wednesday evening, said Kalangutkar referred to the issue of alliance with Congress as the main reason for his resignation.

"As a party with strong internal democracy, we have had a number of healthy discussions over this issue; our clear and strong stand against an alliance with Congress has stemmed from the fact that there is no answer to the most simple question, that is who will guarantee to the people of Goa that Congress MLAs will not jump to BJP once again?" he said.

Far from any confidence-building efforts after "back-to-back defections" to the BJP, the Congress is preparing to field candidates in 2027 who are likely to jump to the saffron party in case they get elected, he claimed.

"Just a few minutes ago, Congress party's senior leader and ex-MP Francisco Sardinha has made a categorical statement that if Congress doesn't get a majority in 2027, then its MLAs will jump to the BJP yet again," he said.

Palekar said the AAP cannot facilitate the formation of a BJP government in Goa.

"Aam Aadmi Party will build an alliance directly with the people of Goa who have suffered from defections and misgovernance for far too long," he added.

Since the alliance with the Congress - that is desired by Rajesh Kalangutkar - will only lead to the formation of a BJP government in Goa, the AAP cannot come to an agreement with him. The Aam Aadmi Party has therefore accepted his resignation, Palekar said.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led party has two MLAs and the Congress has three in the 40-member state assembly.

The AAP won for the first time in the coastal state during the 2022 elections.

After the 2022 Goa polls, 8 of the then 11 Congress MLAs switched over to the BJP.

Earlier, in July 2019, 10 Congress legislators joined the BJP.