MGP in ally talks with AAP ahead of Goa assembly polls

Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party leader Sudin Dhavalikar on Tuesday said that the regional party is keen on an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party. Sudin, also the brother of party head Deepak Dhavalikar, said that talks are happening with AAP's central leadership over a possible alliance for the upcoming polls. However, a deal hasn't been clinched yet.

"If we do opt for an alliance, it will be with a good party. There is no way we will align with either the BJP or the Congress. The AAP has discussed with me. We have not decided anything yet. They (AAP) have invited us -- the committee -- to go to Delhi, see the work that they have done and then we can again have a discussion," he said.

MGP, one of the oldest regional parties in the state, held sway in Goa state politics from the 1960s to 1980s. The AAP, meanwhile, failed to win even a single seat in the 2017 elections. The first signs of an alliance emerged in July when Kejriwal met Sudin Dhavalikar during his two-day visit to the state.

MGP has been part of ruling governments over the last two decades, either with the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party. In 2019, after Pramod Sawant emerged as Chief Minister in the state, Sudin Dhavalikar, who served as a Deputy Chief Minister in the Manohar Parrikar government, was sacked from his post. Following this, two of the three MGP MLAs split from the parent party and joined the BJP.