Goa BJP chief hints at another heavyweight Cong leader joining ruling party
On the eve of Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's visit to Goa on Friday, state BJP president Sadanand Shet Tanavade hinted that a senior Goa Congress leader could be switching over to the ruling party. To a question from a mediaperson about the likelihood of a Congress heavyweight joining the BJP on Friday, Tanavade late on Thursday said: "I am not denying, but someone could be joining".
In all, 14 Congress MLAs have joined the BJP since 2017, leaving the Congress party with just three MLAs in the 40-member state legislative Assembly. Tanavade's comment comes not only days after former Chief Minister and Congress MLA Ravi Naik quit his legislatorship and joined the BJP on December 7, but ahead of Priyanka's day-long visit to the coastal state on Friday.
Priyanka is scheduled to visit a tribal village, Morpirla in South Goa where she will interact with local residents, state Congress president Girish Chodankar said. Priyanka will also interact with students, who were at the forefront of a campaign to protest deforestation at the Mollem wildlife sanctuary to make way for road, rail expansion and a power project. "She will also be addressing a women's convention and preside over a function, where a large number of activists are joining the Congress party," Chodankar said.
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