MARGAO: The people of Margao met the news of their Congress MLA, Digambar Kamat defecting to the BJP with mixed reactions—while Kamat’s supporters welcomed him with garlands and celebratory firecrackers, a large section said they felt betrayed by the veteran leader’s leap, especially since he had gone on record, several times, to say he had no interest in joining the Saffron party.
Chandrakant Shirodkar, who owns a shop at Margao said that Kamat
has taken the right decision to shift parties, or he
would have finished his political career.
“I don’t believe in parties any more. I feel the Margao MLA had made the biggest mistake in his life when he left the BJP. Now, he is on the right track”, he remarked.
Alex Fernandes, another citizen, told Herald that Kamat’s disloyal behaviour was simply not acceptable. “It looks like he has no fear of God. He should have remained faithful to the party on whose ticket he got elected. There were people who had voted for him on party lines and he should have respected them,” said Fernandes.
However, Damodar Naik, another resident of Margao said he has no objections to Kamat joining the BJP. “Now, the Margao MLA can be challenged to initiate the developmental works, which he was unable to do, as he was in the opposition. Henceforth, he will have no excuse,” Naik pointed out. “Let him make the best use of joining the ruling party and make Margao constituency beautiful,” he said. The MLA’s supporters told the media that they are with Kamat, no matter which party he belongs to. Damodar Shirodkar, a close aide of Kamat told the media that they had given their MLA the green signal to take a decision for the betterment of Margao, long ago. Vinod Shirodkar said that Kamat has taken the right decision in joining the BJP for the betterment of Margao. “He is our leader and we will always support him. Now, we only hope this constituency sees a lot of development,” said Shirodkar. Herald also spoke to many voters upset with Kamat’s decision. “Whenever there were rumours of a defection in the city, Kamat would always hold his head high and deny them. Now, he has disgraced himself,” said Raju Naik. Activist Mahesh Dattaram Naik from Margao called the defection a murder of democracy. “Today is a black day in Goa’s political history. These defections have to stop.”
