As defection hit Goa Congress on Wednesday, with eight of its MLAs joining the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the grand old party's veteran Jairam Ramesh launched a scathing attack on the saffron camp. He said the BJP's “Operation Kichad” in Goa has been fast tracked due to the “visible success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra”.
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“BJP is nervous. A daily dose of diversion and disinformation is handed out to undermine the yatra. We remain undeterred. We will overcome these dirty tricks of the BJP,” Ramesh's tweet read.
Congress leader Pawan Khera also took a swipe at the BJP for the exit of the former's eight lawmakers in Goa. Earlier in the day, he quoted lines from Nida Fazil's poem on Twitter and said that those unable to join the “difficult journey of Bharat Jodo Yatra” are resorting to the “dividers, fearing the threats of the BJP”.
{{/usCountry}}Congress leader Pawan Khera also took a swipe at the BJP for the exit of the former's eight lawmakers in Goa. Earlier in the day, he quoted lines from Nida Fazil's poem on Twitter and said that those unable to join the “difficult journey of Bharat Jodo Yatra” are resorting to the “dividers, fearing the threats of the BJP”.
{{/usCountry}}Hours later, he uploaded a video message for the saffron unit as well as the departed MLAs. Addressing the defectors, Khera said that only those who have the courage to not buckle under pressure and dwindle in fear of the BJP can be a part of the Congress party's ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. He, however, cautioned the MLAs that their journey with the saffron camp will be filled with hurdles as has been proven by the success of yatra.
“The Operation Kichad that the BJP carried out in Goa is the result of the party getting rattled and unnerved by ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. They (BJP) have been trying for several months to do this, and they used all kinds of tactics - using federal agencies, wooing with money, threats by goons,” Khera said in Hindi in the video.
The latest defections in Goa come months after a split in Congress was averted in the coastal state. On Wednesday, eight of the 17 lawmakers met chief minister Pramod Sawant after holding a meeting in the chamber of the Leader of Opposition Michael Lobo in the state assembly. They passed a resolution to “merge” their group with the BJP.
Former chief minister Digambar Kamat and Lobo led the MLAs as they arrived at the state assembly even as the House is not in session. Lobo, who had switched to the grand old party before Goa assembly polls earlier this year, returned to his old camp, saying this will be start of the “Congress choddo, BJP jodo” campaign in India.
His statement was a dig to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, and the party's ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’.