Goa Forward Party (GFP) lawmaker Jayesh Salgaocar resigned from the state assembly late on Thursday and said he will join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a day later amid resistance within the party over the expected induction.
The opposition to Salgaocar’s entry forced state BJP chief Sadanand Shet Tanavade to dissolve a local block unit as its members gathered at the party headquarters and raised slogans against the leadership. The members accused the leadership of “using and throwing” the hardworking functionaries and betraying the party principles.
Karan Govekar, a BJP functionary, told the media outside the headquarters that they were promised that the party’s workers would be respected and one among them would be given the ticket from Saligaor, which Salgaocar represented in the assembly. “It did not matter who. We want the party worker to be respected. Instead, they have now betrayed us, and without taking us into confidence, they have brought in a candidate who has called the BJP a dirty party,”
Tanavade said the decision to induct Salgaocar into the BJP was taken as surveys showed the party would become stronger with his entry. “No decision has been taken to give him a ticket. We have welcomed him into the party to strengthen it,” Tanavade said.
{{/usCountry}}Tanavade said the decision to induct Salgaocar into the BJP was taken as surveys showed the party would become stronger with his entry. “No decision has been taken to give him a ticket. We have welcomed him into the party to strengthen it,” Tanavade said.
{{/usCountry}}Salgaocar, who said he will join the BJP on Friday after submitting his resignation, skipped the meeting of GFP chief Vijai Sardesai and legislator Vinoda Paliencar with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Tuesday. Sardesai announced plans to ally with Congress for the state assembly elections early next year after the meeting.
Salgaocar earlier went incommunicado. Sardesai said he was unable to contact him.
On Thursday, GFP issued a notice to Salgaocar asking him to respond to his “constant anti-party activities.” It cited his “behaviour and conduct” and said it clearly indicates his intent is to work with the BJP “for personal gains thereby compromising the values and policies of the party”. He was given 24 hours to respond.
Salgaocar is the second lawmaker to resign from the assembly since Congress’s Luizinho Faleiro quit to defect to the Trinamool Congress in September.