Those who left BJP to join other parties eyeing Goa CM are now regretting it: Tanawade

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Goa unit president Sadanand Tanawade has said that those who left the party earlier this year ahead of the state assembly elections and joined other political parties to become the chief minister, are now repenting.

Speaking to reporters in Mapusa town on Wednesday, Tanawade said that some BJP leaders had left the party for the assembly polls, thinking that the Congress would win the elections. He had wrongly thought that after the elections, the BJP would not be able to form the government. “We tried to persuade him to stay, but he thought that the Congress would form the government and joined that party,” Tanwade said.

But Congress could not win. BJP won 20 seats and with the help of Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and independent candidates, we formed a stable government. So, those who left us at that time are now repenting,” he said. Senior BJP leaders Michael Lobo and Carlos Almeida were some of the leaders who switched to Congress for the assembly elections. Lobo was angry with the BJP after he refused to field his wife Delilah from the Siolim assembly constituency. The Lobo couple were elected from their respective constituencies on Congress ticket. The 40-member Goa Assembly currently has 20 BJP members, 11 Congress, two Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), two MGP, three Independents and one each from Goa Forward Party (GFP) and Revolutionary Goa Party (RGP). When asked whether such leaders would be re-inducted into the party, Tanawade said the decision completely rests with the top leadership.

“We are not a regional organization. The party’s high command is in Delhi, who will decide if any request is made in this regard. Tanawade’s statement comes against the backdrop of rift in the Congress party, with a group of five MLAs reportedly planning to switch to the BJP.

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