Nothing to do with unrest in Goa Congress: BJP

Panaji, July 11: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Goa on Monday said it has nothing to do with the latest unrest in the opposition Congress, which has been hit by defection talks just four months after the Assembly polls.

Talking to reporters at the party office here, Goa BJP spokesman Yatish Naik said political developments that started in the Congress on Sunday were due to internal differences in the opposition party and the saffron outfit should not be accused of trying to engineer a split.

"The BJP has nothing to do with whatever is happening in the Congress party," he asserted.

On Sunday, out of the 11 Congress MLAs in the state, five -- Michael Lobo, Digambar Kamat, Kedar Naik, Rajesh Faldesai and Delialah Lobo -- had gone incommunicado. The Congress subsequently removed Lobo from the post of Leader of Opposition in the 40-member Assembly.

On Monday, Goa Congress president Amit Patkar said the number of MLAs with the party has risen to seven, two more from Sunday's count. He said senior leader Mukul Wasnik has reached Goa and a new Leader of the Opposition will be elected to succeed Lobo.

Asked whether dissident Congress MLAs had met Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Naik said Due to the ongoing Assembly session, many MLAs may have been meeting the CM. That does not mean the BJP or the state government is involved in something.