Margao, March 11 (TNN): Attempts by Goa Su-raj Party (GSRP) to cobble up an alliance of all regional parties in the state have come a cropper. Savio Rodrigues, secretary and president (youth affairs) of the GSRP, admitted to TOI that the alliance was not taking shape and the regional parties, including the GSRP would step into the polls independently.

"We did our best to bring together all the parties under one front, but there were a few issues that kept the parties from agreeing with the common minimum programme (CMP). The GSRP is now going into the elections alone," Rodrigues said.

While Rodrigues declined to specify the issues which led to the failure of the talks on the alliance, it is learnt that the North-South divide over the Mopa airport issue was the main bone of contention. Sources revealed that while the recently-formed Goa Democratic Party (GDF) by Dayanand Narvekar besides other regional satraps from North Goa were in favour of the Mopa airport and wanted the issue to be made the main poll plank, the regional outfits based in South Goa were keen to fight the elections over the anti-Mopa sentiment. The GSRP itself is of the view that Mopa should not come up and that the Navy should be moved out of Dabolim so that it remains the sole international airport in Goa. The UGDP, however, didn't find the idea of an alliance with other regional parties a welcome proposal, as they are considering supporting the Aam Admi Party (AAP), sources added.

Apprehensions over loss of identity if the regional parties fight under an alliance, and the fear of division of votes that could, in fact, work in favour of the two national parties, were the other contentious issues that kept the regional forces apart, sources said.

Rodrigues told TOI that the GSRP would field candidates from the minority community - a Muslim and a Catholic - for the two Lok Sabha seats. One of the candidates is likely to be a woman. "We will be focusing on issues pertaining to minorities, and hence the decision to field candidates from the minority communities. However, the candidates will be such that they enjoy the support of the majority community as well. The shortlisted candidates have a lot of international exposure and experience in issues regarding human rights, illegal mining and corruption, and thus have a knack to deal with the Centre. They may be new faces but they will make excellent parliamentarians," Rodrigues stressed, further exuding confidence that the GSRP will bag 6-8% of the voter share base that would enable them to get recognition as a state party.

Special status for Goa, special All India Services (AIS) cadre for Goa, infrastructural development plan for Goa, and 'no to Mopa' and Navy to be moved from Dabolim, will be among the major issues in the party's manifesto which will be released soon. "We also don't want mining to start until the 35,000 crore loss due to illegal mining is recovered," Rodrigues said.