News analysis | New party Revolutionary Goans creates a splash in Goa Assembly election 

It remains to be seen if party will build on success or fizzle out, according to analysts

When 28-year-old Viresh Borkar, the youngest legislator from Goa’s youngest political party, the Revolutionary Goans (RG), reached the Legislative Assembly for his swearing-in earlier this week riding pillion on a motorbike, he signalled a definite change in the tenor of Goan politics.

First-time MLA Mr. Borkar and the rider of the motorbike, RG party chief and ex-Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member Tukaram ‘Manoj’ Parab, are determined to sweep away the old, corrupt order of Goan politics.

The centrepiece of the party’s poll campaign was its promise to get the POGO (Person of Goan Origin) Bill passed in the Goa Legislature and give Goans their rights by focusing on jobs, government schemes, land and housing board projects.  

The RG stunned established political parties and observers with its impressive performance in the results to the 40-seat Goa Assembly election by opening their account and snaring more than 9.5% of the total vote share.

By that metric, the party, in its political debut, came third after the Bharatiya Janata Party (33% of the vote share) and the Congress (23%) and left the Trinamool Congress (5.21%) and even the AAP (6.67%) — which won two seats — in the shade.

The RG’s ‘wild card’ performance was astounding by any standards, given that the outfit was written off by nearly everyone except the most astute observer. While some did point out the party’s canny, cost-effective campaigns through Facebook and other social media platforms and the emotive appeal of its issues, few dared to venture the impact that the RG would have after counting ended on March 10.

The party, which was allotted the ‘football’ election symbol less than two months before the February 14 election, has now set itself the ambitious target of securing 3.5 lakh votes in the 2027 election.