Eight Congress MLAs from Goa are set to join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), state BJP chief Sadanand Shet Tanawade told PTI today.
The Congress has 11 MLAs and the BJP 20 in the 40-member Goa Assembly. Before joining the BJP, eight Congress MLAs met Chief Minister Pramod Sawant in the assembly premises.
According to an ANI report, the eight MLAs who met CM Sawant are Digambar Kamat, Michael Lobo, Delilah Lobo, Rajesh Faldesai, Kedar Naik, Sankalp Amonkar, Alexo Sequeira and Rudolph Fernandes.
After holding a meeting with the Congress Legislature Party, Lobo told ANI that he would “join the BJP”, though there is no official confirmation from Sawant yet.
The development comes amid Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodi Yatra, which is being organized to counter the BJP-led Center and make the people of the country aware of the dangers of economic inequalities, social polarization and political centralisation. Is.
The yatra will include padyatras, rallies and public meetings, which will be attended by senior Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Several leaders have left the Congress in the recent past.
On September 4, Gujarat Youth Congress President Vishwanath Singh Vaghela resigned from his post, which is considered a big setback for the party. On 2 September, party leader Rajinder Prasad, who is the son of Late Master Bailey Ram Sharma from Nowshera, Rajouri, resigned from all posts and primary membership of the party. Prasad called the ‘Kotari’ system the cause of the party’s ‘death’.
Veteran leader farewell Ghulam Nabi Azadi From the Congress, months ahead of the upcoming Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, as well as general elections in two years’ time, dealt a major blow to the party.
on August 24, Jaiveer Shergill Resigned from the post of party spokesperson. In a resignation letter to interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Shergill has said that the Congress’s decision is “influenced by its own interests”.
Earlier this year in May, senior Congress leader Kapil SibalA prominent face of the G-23 group of disgruntled leaders resigned from the party and filed nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha elections as an independent candidate backed by the Samajwadi Party (SP).
Former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhari Bhavya joined the BJP five days after leaving the old party. Former Union Law Minister Ashwini Kumar had also resigned from the Congress in February after a 46-year-long association with the party.
Back in May, Gujarat Patidar leader Hardik Patel Having joined the BJP after leaving the Congress, he said he felt he was being “ignored”. Earlier in July 2019, 10 Congress MLAs had joined the BJP.
(with inputs from agencies)
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