In Goa, add the word Goa to anything and suddenly it acquires a patriotic fragrance.
So now we have “Goa First.”
How reassuring.
The name suggests that Goa will finally come before party, personality, ambition and political convenience.
But before the fireworks begin, there is one small problem:
Goans have heard this story before.
The AAP–Goa Forward alliance, formally announced for the 2027 Assembly election, is being presented as a new political alternative.
Perhaps it is.
But sitting at the centre of this experiment is Vijai Sardesai — and his political history offers Goa a useful reminder of the difference between political rhetoric and political arithmetic.
The art of political reinvention
Remember 2017?
Goa Forward went into that election hammering the BJP. Then the results arrived.
Congress emerged as the single largest party with 17 seats; the BJP had 13.
Goa Forward's three MLAs suddenly became crucial to government formation.
And political arithmetic performed its familiar magic.
Sardesai backed the BJP-led government and eventually became a minister.
He defended the decision on grounds of stability and advancing his party's agenda. He also acknowledged that it had damaged his reputation.
Politicians are entitled to change their minds.
Voters are entitled to remember.
And that is precisely why “Goa First” deserves scrutiny.
Goa has already seen what happens when political principles collide with the arithmetic of power.
The slogan changes. The mathematics doesn't.
Yesterday, Delhi can be the problem.
Tomorrow, Delhi can become the solution.
Yesterday, a national party can be declared unacceptable.
Tomorrow, its leaders can become coalition partners.
Then, as the next election approaches, everyone rediscovers Goem, Goemkar, Goemkarponn.
Perhaps the problem isn't that politicians change alliances.
Perhaps it is that they expect voters to develop amnesia every five years.
Power is the real test
This is bigger than Sardesai.
Political power gives leaders influence, authority and the ability to shape government. But it also tests restraint.
Opposition is easy compared with government.
It is easy to thunder against those in power. It is harder to listen when the criticism is directed at you.
It is harder still to remember that a ministerial chair is not a personal throne.
Sardesai's critics have described his style as confrontational; his supporters would call it assertive.
Let voters decide.
The larger principle is simple:
No politician becomes more important than the institution he temporarily occupies.
Goa has seen what kingmakers can do
Goa's small Assembly means a handful of MLAs can determine who forms a government.
In 2017, Goa Forward's three seats became pivotal.
That episode should not be dismissed as ancient history.
It raises a question every voter should ask:
What will a small party do when it holds the balance of power?
Strengthen institutions?
Protect long-term interests?
Or maximise bargaining power and political relevance?
Those are very different things.
And
printing “Goa First” on a banner doesn't answer the question.
Why should Goans believe this time is different?
There is nothing wrong with AAP and GFP joining hands. There is nothing wrong with challenging the BJP and Congress.
Political competition is healthy.
But opposing existing parties is not, by itself, a qualification to govern.
The new alliance must answer a much harder question:
What happens after the votes are counted?
What happens if the numbers don't add up?
What happens if another party offers support?
What happens if a handful of MLAs become kingmakers?
What happens when personal ambition collides with coalition discipline?
What happens when political convenience clashes with the interests of Goa?
That is when we will discover whether Goa really comes first.
Because it is easy to put Goa first in a campaign speech.
It is much harder when power is sitting on the table.
Don't confuse political theatre with transformation
Goa has seen this movie before.
Different speeches.
Different faces.
Different slogans.
Different alliances.
Same plot.
First comes the grand declaration.
Then the promise.
Then the election.
Then the arithmetic.
And finally, principles acquire a remarkably flexible interpretation.
It should be interrogated.
Aggressively.
Especially by voters who have watched political certainties evaporate the moment ministerial chairs become available.
The inconvenient question
So call it “Goa First.”
Put it on posters.
Print it on caps.
Repeat it at rallies.
But Goans should ask the question that matters:
When the choice is between Goa's interest and a politician's interest, which one actually comes first?
Goa has had enough of politicians who discover the state just before an election.
It needs leaders who remember Goa after the election.
Because names don't govern.
People do.
And people must ultimately be judged by what they do with power — not by what they call themselves while asking for it.
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