Panaji

Days after initiating alliance talks with the Congress for the 2027 Goa assembly polls, the Goa Forward Party (GFP) on Wednesday stalled the negotiations, claiming that they want to concentrate on all 40 constituencies in the coastal state.

The party’s political affairs committee met earlier in the day in Panaji to discuss the matter. The elections to the 40-seat Goa legislative Assembly are due before March 2027.

GFP president Vijai Sardesai, who represents the Fatorda constituency, had met state Congress head Girish Chodankar last week, initiating talks for an alliance.

The party’s general secretary Mohandas Lolienkar told reporters here that they have suspended talks of an alliance with Congress “for the time being”.

He said that a lot of time gets wasted waiting for the tie-up to materialise, and the party fails to focus on its strength in various constituencies.

“We want to focus on all 40 assembly constituencies. We will now take on the BJP government. We are not waiting for anyone,” Lolienkar said.

The GFP leader hinted that the suspension of alliance talks was temporary. “We can start the talks anytime,” he said. When asked about a time frame, he said, “The talks can start tomorrow, a week later, a month later or anytime.”

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Chodankar said that in the interest of Goa and its people, all like-minded parties should come together to defeat the BJP. He added that the Congress would continue to make efforts to bring opposition parties together for the welfare of Goa.

In the Goa assembly polls in 2022, the BJP won 20 of the 40 seats, while the Congress bagged 11. GFP had won one seat back then.