MARGAO
With Congress-turned-BJP MLA Digambar Kamat firmly taking control of the Margao civic body, less than a month after he had quit the Congress, the Margao MLA is now on another mission “ to wean away his workers and followers from the Congress into the BJP in his fiefdom.
Days after he got the seven Congress-backed Margao Municipal Councillors embrace the saffron party on Sunday, taking the tally of the BJP-backed councillors in the civic body to 15, sources said Kamat is on a job to induct hundreds of his close supporters and followers into the BJP in the coming days.
If sources are to be believed, a mega programme is being arranged by the Margao MLA in the city soon wherein all his supporters and workers, including former members of the Congress block and other committees, are expected to embrace the saffron party.
Kamat, sources said, have planned a big function, which is likely to be attended by top BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, State BJP chief Sadanand Tanavade and other leaders.
Members of the outgoing Margao block Congress committee and members of the Congress frontal organisations, who had quit the primary membership of the party.
A former Congress functionary from the city said how big would be the exodus of the party workers from the Congress to the BJP remains unknown. Sources, however, said that given that the Margao had a firm grip over the Margao unit of the Congress during his 17-year stay in the party, most of his workers and followers from the Congress may follow him in the saffron party.
That’s not all. With reports doing the rounds in political circles that the Congress-turned-BJP MLA is likely to play a big role in the government shortly is also expected to weigh heavily on the minds of his workers and supporters during his long stint in the Congress.
Interestingly, newly-elected Margao Municipal Chairperson Damu Shirodkar went on record to publicly announce that the BJP has overnight returned to power in the civic body after Kamat quit the Congress to join the saffron, indicating that entire credit goes to the Margao MLA for paving the way for the Lotus to bloom again in the Margao civic body.
Kamat had quit the BJP in the year 2005 to embrace the Congress party, paving the way for the downfall of the BJP-led Manohar Parrikar regime. Since then, Kamat has won every successive election on the Congress banner and rose to become the Chief Minister of Goa in 2007, becoming the first Chief Minister in recent times to complete five-year term.
During this 17-year stint in the Congress, the seven-time MLA had a running battle with the BJP leadership, be it to control the civic body or the Margao constituency. Some of the local BJP leaders did not see eye to over the last 17 years, locking horns over a host of issues, both political and social, plaguing the city.
