In fast-paced developments, senior Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Manohar Azgaonkar on Monday resigned from the assembly and the party and joined Congress to be immediately sworn in as minister.
Updated at 4.55 pm
PANAJI: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Manohar Azgaonkar on Monday resigned from the assembly and the party and joined the Congress, to be immediately sworn in as minister.
His resignation comes less than a week of Town Planning Minister Antanasio Monserratte quitting the cabinet over the controversial Regional Plan 2011, leaving a slot in the 12-member cabinet.
Azgaonkar, who represents Dhargal constituency, severed his six-year ties with the BJP, alleging a strong Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh influence on the party and suppressing Bahujan Samaj representatives in the organisation.
With his resignation, the strength of the BJP in the state assembly has come down to 14 and the 40-member House to 36.
The Congress has 18 MLAs, the Nationalist Congress Party two, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party one and independent one. Two BJP MLAs stand disqualified.
Azgaonkar was accompanied by Monserratte, Congress MLA Aleixo Sequira, state Congress general secretary Vijay Sardesai, when he met Speaker Fransisco Sardinha in the morning and submitted the resignation letter.
From there he went to the Congress House here, where Congress General Secretary Margaret Alva welcomed him into the party.
He was later sworn in as minister in the Rane government by Governor SC Jamir in the presence of the chief minister.
"I will shortly announce the portfolios to him as we have accepted the resignation of Monserratte," Rane said at Raj Bhavan, refusing to talk about the portfolios to be allocated to Azgaonkar.
Azgaonkar was a part of a group that effected a split in the Congress in 2000 when he, along with three others – Ravi Naik, Ramakant Khalap and Sanjay Bandekar, joined the BJP.
Later, except Asgaonkar, the other three returned to Congress. Ravi Naik is Goa Congress chief.
Azgaonkar fought the 2002 Assembly elections on a BJP ticket from Dhargalim constituency, and became panchayat minister in the BJP-led government, which was toppled in 2005.
"There is no respect for views of Bahujan Samaj in BJP. The strong RSS lobby is working in the party. Congress stands for development and secularism. You can say I was always a Congressman in my heart," Asgaonkar said minutes after quitting the BJP.
The outgoing legislator said he had to join the Congress to strengthen the party during ensuing state legislative assembly elections and develop his constituency, which is backward.
Goa will go to the polls in the middle of this year.
The BJP sought to play down the exit of its MLA.
"We have no serious problem about his exit. We had an inkling about his talks with the Congress," Leader of the Opposition Manohar Parrikar said.
He said Azagaokar's exit had not much significance as he had no role in the BJP's organisational set-up, adding that Azagaokar had wrong notions that development could be done only by being in power.
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