8 Goa Congress MLAs Join BJP, CM Sawant says “Congress Chhodo Yatra” Begins Now
GG News Bureau
Panaji, 14th September. Eight Goa Congress MLAs, including former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat and Leader of the Opposition Michael Lobo, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday.
After meeting Chief Minister Pramod Sawant at the Assembly complex earlier in the day, all eight MLAs Digambar Kamat, Michael Lobo, Delilah Lobo, Rajesh Phaldesai, Kedar Naik, Sankalp Amonkar, Aleixo Sequeira, and Rudolf Fernandes joined the BJP.
“We have merged with BJP with a majority of 2/3rd to strengthen the hands of PM Modi and CM Pramod Sawant… ‘Congress Chhodo, BJP ko Jodo’, said former Congress MLA Michael Lobo.
Meanwhile, while welcoming the leaders, Goa CM Sawant made a dig at Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, saying, “Congress Chhodo Yatra will begin from Goa now.”
The BJP already has a 25-member majority in the House of 40, with 20 of its own MLAs, two from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, and three independent leaders.
Its membership will increase to 33 with the addition of eight Congress MLAs.
The development came amid Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra to oppose the BJP-led Centre and educate the public about the dangers of economic inequity, social polarization, and political centralization.
The Yatra will consist of Padayatra, rallies, and public meetings attended by senior Congress leaders such as Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Gujarat Youth Congress President Vishwanathsinh Vaghela resigned from his position on September 4, causing a major jolt to the party.
Rajinder Prasad, the son of late Master Beli Ram Sharma of Nowshera, Rajouri, resigned from all positions and primary membership in the party on September 2.
Prasad blamed the party’s ‘demise’ on the ‘coterie’ system. Rajinder Prasad and other high-profile leaders have left Congress in recent months.
The resignation of veteran Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad just months before the upcoming Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, as well as the general elections in two years, dealt a huge blow to the party.
Jaiveer Shergill, a lawyer by profession and one of the prominent young Congress leaders, resigned on August 24, claiming that decision-makers’ vision was no longer in sync with the aspirations of the youth.
In May of this year, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal, a prominent face of the G-23 group of dissenting leaders, resigned from the party and filed nomination papers as an independent candidate backed by the Samajwadi Party for the Rajya Sabha elections (SP).
Former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar also left the party in May of this year.
Former Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar resigned from the Congress in February, ending a 46-year association with the party.
Hardik Patel, a Gujarat Patidar leader, resigned from the party in May after feeling “ignored.”
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