FRIDAY, MAY 03, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: Former Minister Alina Saldanha resigned as MLA and joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday.
On Thursday morning, Alina surprised BJP leaders by submitting her resignation as MLA and from the primary membership of the party and later flew to Delhi and joined AAP.
Saldanha was admitted in AAP in the presence of AAP national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. AAP Goa convenor Rahul Mahambre and leader Valmiki Naik were also present.
Saldanha is likely to contest the 2022 Assembly elections on the AAP ticket from Cortalim constituency, which she has represented for two terms.
After submitting her resignation as MLA, Saldanha said that the BJP had forgotten its core principles. “The party late Matanhy Saldanha had joined and the BJP today is different. A comment of a senior party member in a meeting yesterday (Wednesday) has forced me to resign,” she said.
On Thursday morning, when she had been asked on which party she would contest the ensuing elections, Saldanha had said that she will take time to consult her constituents and then only take a decision on which party to join.
On the other hand, the BJP expelled Saldanha from the party with immediate effect. A notice of expulsion signed by BJP State president Sadanand Shet Tanavade and dated the previous day said, “Your constant acts of making comments against policies of Bhartiya Janata Party on public fora and participating in agitations against the ruling government have been in blatant disregard to the rules and regulations of the party.”
Saldanha was elected unopposed from Cortalim in the by-election in 2012 caused following the death of her husband former Minister late Matanhy Saldanha. She was later inducted as a Cabinet Minister in the Parrikar and Parsekar governments. She retained the Cortalim seat in the 2017 polls.
