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Congress had no interest to form a govt in Goa, says former MLA
Subhash Shirodkar, who along with fellow MLA Dayanand Sopte resigned from the Congress and the assembly after a meeting with BJP president Amit Shah in New Delhi on Tuesday, also said he should have left the Congress after the March 2017 assembly elections but had “wasted” the subsequent time.
The faction-ridden Congress in Goa did not have any interest or the necessary numbers to form the government in the state but was only trying to keep its legislators together, its former MLA Subhash Shirodkar who has joined the BJP alleged Wednesday.
Shirodkar, who along with fellow MLA Dayanand Sopte resigned from the party and the assembly after a meeting with Bharatiya Janata president Amit Shah in New Delhi Tuesday, also said he should have left the Congress after the March 2017 assembly elections but had “wasted” the subsequent time, reported PTI.
He said the Congress, which had won 17 seat in the assembly elections, was “never interested in forming the government” because of the various factions within its state unit.
“There are at least three-four leaders in the Congress who want to become chief minister. They will never arrive at a consensus,” the five-term MLA from Shiroda in North Goa told PTI.
Shirodkar, who was in the Congress delegation that met governor Mridula Sinha to stake claim to form the government last month, said, “It was merely a strategy of the party to keep its flock intact. They also wanted to send a signal to BJP’s allies. They never had the numbers.”
He said he should have left the party along with Vishwajit Rane, who resigned soon after the 2017 elections and joined the BJP.
Shirodkar said he was impressed by chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s work style and the way his government was implementing infrastructure projects in the state, adding he will remain in BJP “till the end of his political career”.
The Congress had emerged as the single largest party after the 2017 assembly elections but couldn’t form the government as it achieve a majority. The resignations of Rane, and now Shirodkar and Sopte, have reduced its number to 14 and it is no longer the single-largest party in the house, whose effective strength is now 38.
The Parrikar government has the support of 23 MLAs - 14 from the BJP, three each from Goa Forward Party and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, and three Independents.
