Goa CM meets Shah, 10 Congress MLAs formally join BJP
   Date :12-Jul-2019

 
NEW DELHI:
 
GOA Chief Minister Pramod Sawant held deliberations with BJP President Amit Shah and other senior leaders on Thursday over the likely reshuffle of his Cabinet as 10 Congress MLAs formally took BJP’s membership here. The 10 MLAs had crossed over to the BJP on Wednesday. Sawant arrived in the national capital with these MLAs and met Shah and BJP working President J P Nadda. There was no official word over what transpired in his meeting with the top party brass but sources said a Cabinet reshuffle in Goa is likely with the induction of the 10 MLAs.
 
Sawant will have to drop current ministers, many of whom are BJP allies whose support was crucial to his Government’s survival, to accommodate the defectors from the Congress. With its numbers in the 40-member Assembly swelling to 27, the BJP is no longer dependent on its allies, including Goa Forward party and Independents. With the Congress accusing the BJP of “murder of democracy” over its MLAs’ switchover, the Goa Chief Minister asserted that they have joined his party “willingly” and “unconditionally”. They want to push development work in the State, he said. Chandrakant Kavlekar, who was the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly before he spearheaded a coup in his own party and joined the BJP along with nine other MLAs, told reporters that they wanted development work in their constituencies. It was not possible if they were in the opposition, he claimed.
 
He also cited the “struggle” in the Congress, an apparent hit at the party’s leadership crisis after its President Rahul Gandhi resigned following its rout in the recent Lok Sabha polls, and wondered how long they could have continued in such conditions.
 
Cong sends Chellakumar to take stock of situation in Goa
 
PANAJI:
 
Shocked after 10 of its MLAs joined the BJP in Goa, the Congress central leadership has sent senior party leader A Chellakumar to take stock of the situation in the coastal State. Chellakumar, All India Congress Committee secretary and the Opposition party’s Goa in-charge, arrived here on Wednesday night and began discussions with the party’s remaining five legislators to decide the future course of action.