Published Jun 02, 2026 | 8:26 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 02, 2026 | 9:52 PM
DK Shivakumar’s (Right) friendship with Vijai Sardesai may set the ball rolling for the reopening of alliance talks with GFP.
Synopsis: Vijai Sardesai, as well as GFP office bearers like Durgadas Kamat, have maintained a personal bond with DK Shivakumar. Their presence at Shivakumar’s swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday is set to reignite discussions on a pre-poll alliance in Goa.
Hundreds of Indian National Congress flags and hoardings with photos of Congress leaders line up along the pathway from the party’s state headquarters on Queen’s Road to Corporation Circle in Bengaluru.
Arrangements have been made for DK Shivakumar’s elevation on the evening of Wednesday, 3 June, as the chief minister of Karnataka. He will be sworn in at a ceremony to be held at the Glass House on Lok Bhavan premises.
A stage has also been set up on the steps of the Vidhana Soudha to accommodate those, especially common people, who could not attend the ceremony at the Lok Bhavan.
Apart from marking a change of guard and fruition of Shivakumar’s decades-long struggle to attain the top post, the guest list for the ceremony indicates that more is in store for Congress. The swearing-in ceremony may lay the foundation for renewed alliance discussions in neighbouring Goa, heading for elections next year.
One of the prominent invitees to Shivakumar’s swearing-in ceremony is Goa Forward Party (GFA) chief Vijai Sardesai. A former Congressman who has held the post of state youth Congress president, Sardesai, split from the party and later joined the GFP.
A close friend of Shivakumar, Sardesai, as well as GFP office bearers like General Secretary (Organisation) Durgadas Kamat, have maintained a personal bond with the Congress’s troubleshooter. Their presence at the swearing-in ceremony is set to reignite discussions on a pre-poll alliance.
Despite GFP’s push over last year, Congress has not decided officially on a pre-poll alliance with the party. Congress in Goa and the AICC office bearers in charge of Goa, are divided over an alliance and sharing seats with parties such as the GFP.
Also Read: Shivakumar’s elevation forces BJP and JD(S) to rethink strategies
Earlier in May, Sardesai had appealed to all opposition parties to unite against the BJP. With Girish Chodankar taking over as the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President recently, the party has a structure in place to initiate alliance talks with smaller parties like GFP, Revolutionary Goans Party, etc.
Under Sardesai’s leadership, GFP contested the 2017 assembly polls on an ‘anti-BJP’ pitch. However, a hung assembly led Sardesai to align with the BJP on the condition that Manohar Parrikar returned to Goa as the chief minister.
Despite Congress winning more seats than the BJP in the 2017 assembly polls, GFP, along with other smaller parties, played a key role in giving the BJP the adequate numbers needed to form the government.
In the 2022 assembly polls, however, GFP entered into a pre-poll alliance with Congress.
In Goa’s 40-member legislature, NDA has an overwhelming majority of 32, with BJP alone accounting for 27 MLAs. Congress, on the other hand, despite being the primary opposition party, has only three MLAs. Sardesai is the lone GFP legislator.
Shivakumar’s personal friendship with Sardesai may set the ball rolling for the re-opening of alliance talks in the run-up to the Goa assembly polls in 2027.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
