Very much on the lines of Mumbai's Bal Thackeray in the 1960s, Khalap is raising the bogey of outsiders swamping Goa. In a press note issued by him, the leader of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) called upon all like-minded parties to come together to fight urbanisation and industrialisation which, he alleged, are reducing Goans to a minority in their own State. ``There are too many outsiders in Goa,'' he told The Indian Express.

Khalap says he is targeting legislators and political activists from the United Goans Democratic Party (UGDP) and the ruling Goa Rajiv Congress (GRC) led by Chief Minister Wilfred D'Souza for joining hands with him. While the UGDP is leaderless with its former founder Churchill Alemao joining theCongress, the GRC is a breakaway faction of the Cong without any cadre.

Most of the 10 legislators who have broken away from the Congress are unsure of getting elected. While Sonia Gandhi is not keen on giving tickets to defectors who return home on election-eve, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has asked the 10 GRC MLAs to join it without any pre-conditions. In such a situation, Khalap hopes to emerge at the focus of fresh political realignments by disparate but significant political forces in the State.

Under Khalap's formula, the MGP, which once supported the merger of Goa with Maharashtra, will have to change its name in order to become acceptable to the minority Catholic community in Goa. By aligning himself with the leaderless UGDP, which has the support of the minorities in south Goa, Khalap hopes to establish a winning combination.