Team Herald
MARGAO: Even as Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Girish Chodankar did not rule out the possibility of Congress MLAs defecting to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Cuncolim MLA Clafacio Dias asserted that he would not leave the party.
A day earlier, Dias had created a flutter when he had sought the opinion of his supporters on whether he should join the BJP.
Briefing media persons on Friday, Chodankar said BJP has launched a nationwide activity of poaching opposition MLAs. “They are using all kinds of pressure, including government, social media and above all money power,” he said, adding that works in constituencies represented by opposition MLAs are not undertaken so that they are pressurised by their voters to join the BJP.
He said that Dias was facing a similar situation and that is the reason why he told his supporters at a meeting that he would consult them before resigning from the Congress and joining any other party.
“The Congress has stood by me and the people are with me which can be seen by the 2,700 vote lead the Congress candidate for LS elections got in Cuncolim as against the lead of mere 600 votes earlier,” Dias said, adding that in such circumstances there was no reason for him to change the party.
“Because he is clean and innocent, Clafacio said he would consult his supporters otherwise history bears testimony to the fact that defectors have silently moved to other parties without consulting or discussing with anybody,” Chodankar said, praising Dias.
Replying to a question, he said BJP does not trust its own MLAs or the allies and therefore is strengthening its position by spreading tales of Congress MLAs likely to join the BJP. “The BJP is now trying to ease Goa Forward Party from the alliance and more significantly wants to reduce Vijai’s (Sardesai) influence on the government,” he said, giving reasons for BJP trying to poach Congress MLAs.
Dias asserted that neither has anybody from the BJP approached him, nor is he in touch with any BJP leader and admitted that once before too there were canards spread about him joining BJP.
“The BJP is doing something that is dangerous for democracy as it is trying to destroy the Opposition which an integral part of a thriving democracy,” Chodankar said, admitting that Congress is struggling against this onslaught by the BJP.
“Not all can withstand the pressure put by BJP and hence anything can happen as they are using political pressure, government machinery and money power,” Chodankar said, when asked whether he could state that no Congress MLA from Goa would defect in the near future.
