Days after the Congress's Goa unit wrote to Governor Mridula Sinha saying they should be invited to form the government as it was the single largest party in the state, the grand old party suffered a major jolt on Tuesday as two of its MLAs resigned from the party and switched sides. Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of Union minister Piyush Goyal in Delhi.
This means now both the BJP and the Congress have equal number of MLAs—14—in the state. The BJP can breathe easy for now as the defections would bring down the effective strength of the assembly, and its allies will now have lesser bargain power. Shirodkar and Sopte claimed that two-three more Congress legislators were ready to switch sides.
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“We welcome these leaders to the BJP. This will strengthen the party in the state,” Goyal said as he handed over the formal induction letters to the two leaders at party headquarters in Delhi. The two Goa leaders had earlier met BJP chief Amit Shah. Shirodkar is a six-time MLA and former Congress state president. He runs several educational institutions. Sopte is a two-time MLA who had defeated the then Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar in 2017 elections from Mandrem constituency. Sopte was earlier in the BJP, but later joined the Congress. He is also into the business of building materials.
The state is currently facing a political uncertainty due to the failing health of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. The chief minister has returned to Goa after spending a month at the AIIMS hospital in Delhi. With his long absence from office, the future of the government was at stake.
Though the Congress had won more seats in the 2017 elections, other parties allied with the BJP on the condition that Parrikar, who was then the defence minister, should be made the chief minister.
As the coalition government faced trouble, Congress petitioned the governor seeking a chance to prove majority in the assembly as it was the single largest party with 16 MLAs. The BJP had won 14 seats. Three MLAs, each from Goa Forward Party and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, and three independents had lent their support to the BJP to help it achieve majority in the 40-member house.
With two Congress MLAs switching sides, the political situation in the state has now witnessed another turn. Sources said by-elections will be held to the vacant seats. BJP hopes to add these seats to its kitty.
Goa BJP minister Vishwajit Rane was also present at the function in Delhi, where the two MLAs joined the party. Rane's presence during the press conference addressed by Piyush Goyal was to allay speculations that the former was not happy in the saffron party. Earlier, Congress state secretary A. Chellakumar had made a startling claim saying Rane wanted to split the BJP and return to Congress. Rane had denied the charge.
