A day after he blamed senior leaders over their botched up bid to stake claim to power in Goa, Congress MLA Vishwajeet Rane on Thursday tendered his resignation from the Goa Assembly as well as from the party.
His resignation came hours after Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar proved his majority on the floor of the Goa Assembly by winning the trust vote with the support of 22 legislators in the 40-member House.
Rane, who was elected from Valpoi constituency, was missing from the Assembly during the trust vote.
He had yesterday said that he had written a letter to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi seeking an appointment.
Rane submitted his resignation to protem speaker Siddharth Kuncalienkar, who asked him to rethink the decision. Rane said he will once again contest from Valpoi.
“I am fed up of this party. No decision yet on which platform I’ll contest from. I’m going back to my people to ask them,” he told reporters after submitting his resignation.
Days ago, Rane, son of veteran Congress leader and former chief minister Pratapsinh Rane, had questioned the "delay" in electing the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader and blamed the "mismanagement" by senior leaders for losing power to the BJP.
The pre and post-election matters of the Congress in Goa were handled by General Secretary Digvijaya Singh and the party Secretary Chellakumar, who has been camping in Goa.
The BJP won 13 seats, four less than the Congress which bagged 17 seats in the 40-member House.
"Ideally, the CLP leader should have been elected immediately (after the poll results). Party's Goa Incharge has done this mismanagement. Those who were incharges of Goa are experienced people. They should have understood the steps needed to be taken immediately to form the government," he had said.
He had said that he was "open" to quit his party if no action is taken against those responsible for the Congress' debacle.
"I will meet Rahul Gandhi before taking any further step. I am hopeful that Rahul ji will give us justice. If he does not respond, then we will feel that we are not in right party and we will take decision after consulting our workers.
"We will have to quit the Congress if such kind of behaviour continues."
Digvijay Singh had yesterday asked Rane to explain his meeting with Parrikar at a hotel.
“All is well internally within the party. Rane should explain what he was doing with Parrikar in a hotel,” Singh said.
