ZP elections to gauge voter mood ahead of 2027 assembly: Experts

Panaji: With less than a week left for the zilla panchayat (ZP) polls in the state, political parties have pulled out all the stops to reach out to every electorate in a bid to win both the North and South Goa ZPs.

The campaign has reached its peak, and parties are now back at the drawing table, fine-tuning and making last-minute changes to their strategies to ensure victory.


In all, 226 candidates are in the fray for the ZP elections. In North Goa, 111 candidates are trying their luck, while in South Goa, the number stands at 115. Almost 40 ZP constituencies are witnessing a four-cornered contest, making the electoral battle highly competitive. There are a total of 50 constituencies for ZP, including 25 each in North and South Goa.

A total of 8.6 lakh voters will exercise their franchise on Dec 20, while the counting of votes will be held on Dec 22.

The BJP-MGP-independent MLAs were the first to stitch together their alliance for the ZP elections, and even the seat-sharing arrangement was comfortably finalised without any major issues. However, there are a few seats where the BJP is facing internal revolt after some aspirants were denied tickets.

The opposition, which was keen on presenting a united front, was seen divided by the end of the nomination process. Congress, which wanted to go along with two regional parties, GFP and RGP, to defeat the BJP and its alliance partners, could not form an alliance with the RGP at the last minute due to some issues related to seat sharing.

AAP, which was kept out by Congress during the alliance discussions, is contesting the ZP election independently. All political parties have claimed that they will emerge victorious in the ZP election.

A political observer said that the ZP election is the first electoral exercise ahead of the 2027 assembly election, which will be followed by the municipality election.

“ZP results may not have a direct impact on the assembly election, but they will definitely show the mood of the people,” a political observer said.

The opposition, which started its campaign at the last minute, will now have to speed up its efforts to reach out to every electorate and convince voters to support them. While the BJP has a strong ground presence, this will help the party cover ground quickly and efficiently.

“There was hardly any time for both the ruling party as well as the opposition, but considering the strong karyakarta network of the BJP, they definitely have an advantage in the election over the opposition. However, burning issues ahead of the election, like the fire incident at a nightclub and other issues including law and order, will help the opposition to consolidate electorates on their side,” a political observer said.

For some ZP candidates, this election is seen as the first step towards gaining recognition from political parties and eventually becoming their candidate for the assembly election. That is the reason most of the candidates jumped into the ring, despite knowing very well that they will not have much authority even if they get elected as public representatives, a political observer said.

Political observers are considering the ZP election as a litmus test ahead of the 2027 assembly election.