PTI, PANJIM: Seven out of the eight former Congress MLAs in Goa, who joined the ruling BJP last week, met BJP president J P Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Monday. Calangute MLA Michael Lobo is learned to have gone to Africa for a safari and is on his way back to Goa
However, the MLAs appeared to have barely got a glimpse of Home Minster Amit Shah and President JP Nadda, according to someone in the delegation who kept count said that the total time spent was roughly “4 min, 19 secs.”
The time, effort, and money spent in undertaking the journey and the less than five-minute meeting drew sharp reactions. Political spokesman Trajano D’ Mello said, “The Prime Minister spent more time with the cheetahs in Madhya Pradesh who came from Africa. The PM spent over an hour with them.”
He said, “The defector MLAs travelled for four-and-half hours and met the Home Minister for about four minutes. It’s an insult to the voters of their constituency, to all Goans. And the PM has not even met them.”
“They joined the BJP for their own greed, but at the cost of getting snubbed What about the honour of their voters? Moreover, who paid for their visit? Was it from the exchequer? Let them now come back and tell their people how they enjoyed those four minutes”, Trajano said
Social media was also agog with sharp reactions and criticisms about the visit including calls to corner the MLAs and grill them on the real reasons for betraying their mandate.
State BJP president Sadanand Shet Tanavade and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant were also present during the meeting with Nadda and Shah in the national capital.
The seven MLAs – Digambar Kamat, Delilah Lobo, Kedar Naik, Rajesh Faldesai, Sankalp Amonkar, Rudolf Fernandes, and Aleixo Sequeira – called on the two senior BJP leaders, Tanavade said.
The State BJP president said all the MLAs would return to Goa from New Delhi by Monday night.
