The Congress may have had a dry electoral year in 2025, but in the small state of Goa, which will go to the polls 14 months from now, the party has made modest gains, signalling a slight shift among the electorate. The Congress more than doubled its strength in the recently concluded zilla panchayat elections, jumping from four to ten seats out of 50.
Although the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has managed to retain control of both North Goa and South Goa district councils for a third straight term, the results have laid bare signs of erosion in its political dominance. For the Congress, meanwhile, the outcome is being seen as a rare morale booster, offering a glimmer of hope ahead of the crucial 2027 Assembly elections.
In the elections held on December 21, the BJP won 29 seats across the two districts, a drop of four seats from the 33 it had secured in the 2020 zilla panchayat polls. The Congress eating into the BJP’s space signals a revival at the grassroots level. At the same time, other parties also made inroads: the BJP’s ally, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, won three seats; the Congress-aligned Goa Forward Party secured one; the debutant Revolutionary Goans Party won two; the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) retained its lone seat; while independents accounted for the remaining seats.
Though these were local elections, a closer look at the district-wise performance underlines the Congress’s grassroots growth and explains why the results matter politically. North Goa, a BJP bastion for more than two decades, still saw a strong showing by the ruling party. The BJP-MGP alliance won 19 of the 25 seats there, though the saffron party’s own tally slipped by two seats compared to 2020—both of which were picked up by the Congress. In South Goa, the alliance won 13 of the 25 seats, down from the 14 seats the BJP had won on its own last time. The Congress made its biggest gains in South Goa, adding six seats to take its total to eight in the district.
Notably, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress wrested the South Goa parliamentary seat from the BJP, while the ruling party retained North Goa. The zilla panchayat results have now reinforced the sense that South Goa is emerging as a potentially favourable terrain for the Congress, even as the saffron camp’s hold over North Goa shows early signs of strain.
Adding to the political weight of the outcome is the record voter turnout of 70.8 per cent, the highest ever in Goa’s zilla panchayat elections. These polls, the fifth since local bodies were first constituted in 2005, were largely held in rural areas, making them an important indicator of grassroots sentiment. A second round of local body elections, covering the Panjim municipality and 19 municipal councils, is scheduled for January 2026. Whether urban Goa mirrors the rural trend remains to be seen.
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The Congress leadership has projected the outcome as evidence of a broader political shift. Manikrao Thakare, All India Congress Committee in-charge of Goa, said the party was “thrilled” with what he termed a strong performance. Linking the gains to the Congress’s Lok Sabha victory in South Goa in 2024, he said, “In the 2020 ZP elections, Congress won just four seats, but this year, we have increased our tally to 10 seats.”
Thakare, who earlier served as the Congress in-charge of Telangana, was moved to Goa after the party’s victory in the 2023 Assembly elections.
He argued that the rural poll results reflect a grassroots resurgence driven by public anger over what he described as the BJP government’s corruption, mismanagement and neglect of local issues. “The voters of Goa are fed up with empty promises and divisive politics,” he said, expressing confidence that the momentum would carry the Congress to a decisive win in 2027.
For now, the BJP remains firmly in control of Goa’s local bodies. However, the shrinking margins and the growing opposition presence suggest that the road to the 2027 Assembly elections may be more competitive than in previous cycles.