The Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party on Wednesday announced a pre-poll alliance for the upcoming Goa elections after efforts to recreate a Maha Vikas Aghadi-like arrangement in the state were apparently stonewalled by the Congress.

The Congress has already cold-shouldered the Trinamul Congress’s suggestion for a tie-up in the rather crowded battleground.

In 2017, the Congress had emerged the single-largest party in Goa with 17 seats in the 40-member legislature, but it was out-manoeuvred by the BJP. The party believes that it stands a fighting chance of forming the government in the state this time round and is not willing to yield much space to the other parties.

Addressing a news conference in Panaji, NCP leader Praful Patel said his party and the Sena had hoped to extend the MVA from Maharashtra to Goa with the Congress playing the major role given its larger footprint in the state. But, the Congress “did not respond to our proposal’’. He said the NCP and Sena felt they were not being given the respect due to them in an indication that the effort collapsed on seat-sharing.

The NCP-Sena alliance now plans to contest about a dozen of the 40 seats, leaving a window open for a post-poll alliance with the Congress if such a situation should arise.
Congress sources maintained that the talks failed because of the unreasonable demands made by the NCP and the Shiv Sena.

NCP lost its lone MLA in the outgoing legislature to the Trinamul, which has taken a big plunge into the Goa election battleground, angering the Congress, which sees this as a move that will eat into its votes against the BJP.

The Shiv Sena did not win any seat in the 2017 elections but has a presence in North Goa.

Also, there were differences over supporting the candidature of former chief minister Manohar Parikkar’s son Utpal who is likely to contest as an Independent from Panaji amid reports that the BJP might not give him a ticket. Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut is on record stating that all Opposition parties should back him but the Congress is not on the same page on this.

The Congress has till now only allied with the Goa Forward Party, and has been questioning the desire of other parties with a smaller footprint to contest in Goa on the premise that it is weakening the fight against the BJP.

The other parties, in turn, contend that by the same logic the Congress should not contest in Uttar Pradesh where it has a negligible presence, and leave the field entirely to the Samajwadi Party, which is the main contender to the BJP there.

“While Congress not wanting to ally with any parties in Goa is totally their party decision, attempting to curtail other parties from contesting is not. This decision of not taking opposition along is leading to disunity and will prove to be an advantage for BJP,’’ tweeted Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi.