Margao | The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Goa today cited the results of the recent Rajasthan local body elections as fresh evidence that a vote for the Congress ends up strengthening the BJP, and cautioned Goan voters against repeating the pattern in the upcoming Assembly elections.
In at least three civic bodies where the Congress won the highest number of seats — Ajmer Municipal Corporation, Pali Municipal Corporation and Kuchaman City Nagar Parishad — Congress councillors cross-voted to install BJP candidates as Mayor or Chairperson. In Ajmer, Congress led with 37 seats to BJP’s 32, yet BJP’s Anamika Sharma was elected Mayor with 43 votes. In Pali, Congress led 29 to 21, yet BJP’s Namita Bubakia won with 33 votes. In Kuchaman, Congress led 17 to 15, and BJP’s Mahesh Ramchandka still took the chair with 25 votes.
By contrast, in the Baran Municipal Council, where voters gave AAP a clear majority of 31 out of 60 seats, every AAP councillor stayed with the party. There was no cross-voting, and AAP’s Sheetal Rathore was elected Chairperson.
Prashant Naik, Organisation Secretary, AAP Goa, said, “Rajasthan has just given the country a lesson. Congress workers fight the election, and their own councillors hand the chair to BJP the same evening — this has now happened in three cities in a row. Goa has seen this film before. Seventeen Congress MLAs won in 2017, ten joined BJP. Eleven won in 2022, eight joined BJP. Baran shows what happens when people vote for a party that actually stays and fights: AAP’s 31 councillors stayed 31, and AAP got its chairperson.”
Sandesh Teleikar Dessai, Sr Vice President, AAP Goa, said, “Congress should stop the Goy Rakhon Yatra and start an MLA Rakhon Yatra instead, because their real problem is holding on to their own MLAs and councillors. Goans who genuinely want to defeat BJP need to understand this clearly — splitting the anti-BJP vote between Congress and AAP only lets BJP form the government through the back door, exactly as it happened in Ajmer, Pali and Kuchaman. Only a strong AAP, Goa First, can defeat BJP and form a people’s government.”
AAP Goa said that with Assembly elections approaching, voters must consolidate behind the party to prevent a repeat of the defection pattern in Goa, where a divided vote could once again be converted into a BJP win through post-result defections.
