Merger took place under trying circumstances: BJP

NT NETWORK

 

PANAJI

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday maintained that the splinter group of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party comprising Manohar ‘Babu’ Azgaonkar and Deepak Pauskar was merged into it under trying circumstances, when the MGP leaders were on the verge of withdrawing MGP’s support to the BJP-led state government, and Azgaonkar as well as Pauskar were against the formation of the Congress government in Goa.

Coming out with this information, state BJP president Vinay Tendulkar said the particular situation was such that it was impossible to inform about this development to senior local BJP members such as Laxmikant Parsekar and Rajendra Arlekar.

“However, we allowed the merger only after receiving go-ahead from  national BJP president Amit Shah, and other national party leaders like Nitin Gadkari and B L Santhosh,” he clarified.

Addressing a press conference at the city party headquarters, the state BJP president said that Azgaonkar and

Pauskar themselves established contact with the Goa BJP unit and expressed their desire to join the BJP, after which the pace to merge the splinter MGP group into the BJP gained momentum.

Tendulkar said that an agreement was reached between the BJP and the MGP before the swearing-in of the Pramod Sawant government as regards Pandurang ‘Deepak’ Dhavalikar not contesting against the BJP candidate Subhash Shirodkar in the Shiroda constituency.

“However, in spite of this understanding Deepak continued his campaign in the Shiroda constituency, which triggered off the subsequent developments,” he added, pointing out that the BJP, under normal circumstances, never harms political parties which are its coalition partners.

The state BJP president also informed that Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate, a leader of the Goa Forward Party, which is an alliance partner of the BJP volunteered to resign from the GFP and contest the by-election in the Panaji constituency, against the BJP candidate.

“We have no objection for such an act,” he noted.

Tendulkar, in his advice to Ramakrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar said, “If he has any wisdom, he should not field the MGP candidates at the bypolls as well as Lok Sabha election in Goa.”

Meanwhile, Jaideep Shirodkar, a former MGP leader from Shiroda and the local zilla parishad member was inducted along with his supporters into the BJP by Tendulkar in the presence of the state party general secretary Sadanand Shet Tanavade.

Shirodkar said the pulse of Shiroda is in the hands of voters from Shiroda.

“They know what is good for the constituency, and would not allow an outsider like Deepak in the constituency,” he added.