Margao: Talks between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Goa Forward Party (GFP) for a pre-poll alliance ahead of the 2027 assembly elections have reached an advanced stage. GFP, however, made it clear that its suspension of talks with Congress remains in force over what it called unresolved questions on defection.AAP state president Valmiki Naik said on Tuesday that discussions with GFP had progressed significantly. “Talks with Goa Forward Party have reached at an advanced stage,” Naik said, adding that Congress had not yet formally reached out to AAP for talks. “We are still open to talks with Congress. We still believe Congress and RG will come together with AAP and GFP in the larger interest of defeating BJP,” he said.GFP president Vijai Sardesai, meanwhile, was categorical that his party’s suspension of talks with Congress “still holds,” and squarely put the blame on the grand old party’s silence over the question of defections. “We have certain questions which have remained unanswered. Nothing tangible is happening with Congress,” Sardesai said, stressing that GFP’s decision was not born out of ego but out of Congress’s refusal to engage with concerns already in the public domain.Naik, however, flagged developments within Congress that he said did not inspire confidence in a united opposition front — pointing to Congress MLA Altone D’Costa and Revolutionary Goans (RG) MLA Viresh Borkar both asserting their presence in Velim, a seat currently held by AAP. He argued that an AAP-GFP tie-up made electoral sense for Goa, since “AAP is a national party while GFP is a regional party.”Sardesai was pointed on the defection issue, which he indicated was the central sticking point. “The question of wholesale defection, doesn’t it need answers? The perception is that there is a hat-trick of defection in the making — shouldn’t this be tackled?” he said, adding that it was “their inability to answer questions” rather than GFP’s obstinacy that had stalled the process. “The talks mean nothing if the basic issues are not being handled,” he said.Sardesai also took a swipe at Congress, accusing it of talking alliance while simultaneously propping up multiple aspirants in the same constituency “without any guarantee that they will remain with the party once the candidate is declared.”In contrast, Sardesai projected the emerging alliance with AAP as something based on concrete issues. “With AAP, we have a common meeting ground on many things. We believe that education and health in the state needs to look at very serious reforms. AAP has done a good work in these sectors in the states governed by them,” he said.
