With Assembly elections in Goa less than a month away, political onlookers believe the Congress could upend the BJP’s plans to retain power in the coastal state, but seem less keen on the Trinamool Congress, whose entry added color to the election campaign.

The Congress could remove about 22 of the 40 Assembly seats, while the BJP would get about 15 seats and more. Many good leaders left the BJP due to their internal conflicts.

After Shiv Sena announced an alliance with NCP; MP Shiv Sena Sanjay Raut told Afternoon Voice, “Our talks with Congress failed, but we announced an alliance with the NCP; out of ten seats, our Shiv Sena-NCP alliance should win at least two seats.

When asked if there was a chance of a post-election alliance like the one in Maharashtra, Raut replied that “the odds cannot be denied”. He further stated, “Congress has a good chance of needing additional seats that the alliance can fill.”

Savio Rodrigues, the BJP Goa worker said: “It would be a close election. BJP to cross 35% mark, opinion polls predicted BJP could get 18-22, Congress 7-10 seats; AAP gets 5-6 and MGP and TMC around 1-3 seats. The opponents and the opposition will not collaborate this time; The BJP casts 35-38% of the votes in closing 40. If there was a fight between us and the Congress, the picture would be different. If NCP and Shiv Sena don’t line up, it’s a win-win for BJP. Employment challenge and mining adversity are our main areas of focus.

Yusuf Khan, the CEO of Goa Bulletin Hindi News said, “In fact, the AAP can help the BJP to retain power. Most AAP voters are Congressional voters who would have otherwise voted for Congress. Much of the party’s support appears to come from Christians in South Goa. Since the constituencies of the assembly are very small, even a few hundred votes can decide the winner. The Congress, the AAP, the local MGP and GFP players could all fight for their electoral positions by giving the BJP a comfortable victory. Congress has a strong chance of gaining power in the state. But most of the early opinion polls gave significant leads to the BJP.

“The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) is expected to win 3-4 seats, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will win three to four seats,” the local political analyst said. He attributed the electoral prospects of the MGP, which rose to prominence under the leadership of Goa’s first chief minister, Dayanand Bandodkar, to its alliance with the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC. “On its own, MGP may have fared very poorly. But TMC’s financial clout will help him,” Khan added.

Former State Election Commissioner Prabhakar Timblo said Congress will form the next coastal state government. “Anti-incumbency is very high in the state, and it will work against the BJP,” he added. The big old party will win around 20 to 22 seats, Timblo said.

“Congress will be fine as long as it doesn’t throw those past their expiration date into politics in these elections,” he added. Timblo insisted that neither TMC nor AAP will have much impact in the February 14 election,” Timblo added.

Giriraj Pai Vernekar, a political analyst and BJP sympathizer, said, “The BJP is not afraid of the opposition in power, because people know that a two-engine government is necessary to pursue the development of the state. Otherwise, there is a confrontation between the Center and the State, as in the case of West Bengal.

Durgadas Kamat, General Secretary of the Goa Forward Party (GFP), which has entered into a pre-election alliance with Congress, said: “The alliance will be victorious. There is a groundswell against BJP and in favor of Congress and GFP because people know we can give good and honest government.

Head of AAP Goa Unit Rahul Mhambrey said, “The party led by Arvind Kejriwal projects ‘young and clean faces. People have seen Delhi’s development pattern. We will imitate it here.

Mhambrey further said, “There is also talk of a grand alliance of all opposition parties which could effectively avoid the traditional Congress vote split in many constituencies and worry the ruling BJP. However, nothing concrete has emerged on this front so far.

Over the past few months, numerous posters featuring the picture of Mamata Banerjee and the slogan “Goenchi Navi Sakal” (New Dawn of Goa) have been posted across the state. TMC MPs Mahua Moitra and Derek O’Brien are leading the party’s campaign in Goa.

The AAP entered the political scene in Goa during the 2017 assembly elections and attempted to build a base in the coastal state. In the Goa Assembly polls in 2017, the BJP only won 13 seats while the Congress won in 17 constituencies. However, the BJP claimed the formation of government with the support of 3 MGP MPs, 3 GFP MPs, two Independents and one NCP MP under the leadership of Parrikar who resigned as Defense Minister to return to the state coastal.