18 Oct 2018 | 05:44am IST
Cong can never decide who is to be their CM: Shirodkar
Says he should have left the party earlier; Vows to stay with BJP till the end of political career
PANJIM: Former Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Subhash Shirodkar, who left the Congress to join BJP, said that the Congress in Goa can never come to a consensus on the chief minister.
“Forget forming the government, the Congress in Goa can never come to a consensus on who would be the next CM,” Shirodkar said, adding that he should have left the party soon after 2017 Assembly poll results.
Shirodkar, along with another Congress MLA Dayanand Sopte, resigned as the members of the House on Tuesday and also from the primary membership of the party to join BJP.
“I should have taken this step long back. When Vishwajit Rane left Congress soon after the 2017 elections, I should have left with him. I wasted one year and eight months,” said Shirodkar, who has been a five times MLA from Shiroda in North Goa and a minister in Congress-led governments.
Rane, representing Valpoi constituency, had resigned as MLA and from the Congress party to join BJP in March 2017 when Manohar Parrikar proved his majority on the floor of the House.
Shirodkar said that the Congress which had won 17 seats was never interested in forming the government in Goa because of the factions within it. “There are at least 3-4 leaders in Congress who want to become the Chief Minister. They will never come to a consensus,” he said.
Shirodkar, who was part of Congress delegation which met Goa Governor Mridula Sinha to stake claim to form the government last month, said that ‘staking claim was a strategy of the party’. “It was merely a strategy of the party to keep its flock intact. They also wanted to send a signal across to the BJP’s alliance partners. They never had numbers,” he said.
Shirodkar said he was impressed with the working style of the chief minister and also the way BJP has been implementing infrastructural projects in the State. “I did not want to keep my constituency devoid of development. That is why I decided to join BJP,” Shirodkar said and added that he will remain with the BJP till the end of his political career.
