Goa Assembly results 2022: How Goa’s youngest party RG left Congress at sea in coastal state

Aside from the defeat to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the Goa assembly polls, one thing that majorly embarrassed Congress on Thursday was losing a part of its vote bank to the state’s youngest political outfit, the Revolutionary Goans Party.

The RGP got registered with the Election Commission just a month ago. It also won its maiden seat, St Andre, with candidate Veeresh Borkar.

RG, as the party is popularly called, gave Rahul Gandhi (RG)’s party a run for its money and hurt the Congress’s vote share in at least five major constituencies.

The Congress won 11 seats in Goa, almost 8 below their expectations, say party leaders. But what hurt them the most was how Goa’s youngest party, Revolutionary Goans, set them back by taking away 1,000-1,500 votes each in Curtorim, Valpoi, Shiroda, and Curchorem.

“It is bad enough we could not win despite our hard work, but a young party like RG has taught us a few lessons,” said a senior Congress leader.

Led by former Aam Aadmi Party worker Manoj Parab, RGP started out as a social organisation built on the premise of fighting to preserve the rights of persons of Goan origin. The party fielded candidates against several heavyweights in the state — including chief minister Pramod Sawant (Sanquelim) and health minister Vishwajit Rane (Valpoi).