MARGAO
With the party falling short of the numbers in the numbers game and a party-backed councillor deserting the outfit to join the rival BJP, the Goa Forward Party has decided to abstain from the October 12 election for the post of Margao Municipal Chairperson, paving the way for the return of the BJP in the A-Class civic body after a gap of 17 years.
Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai took to social media on Sunday to announce that the party will abstain from voting in the ensuing polls for the MMC Chairperson’s post, but not before slamming friend-turned-foe Digambar Kamat for murdering democracy to satisfy his greed.
“We will abstain. Kamat may get his Chairperson elected. But, why resort to tyrannical Ordinances and destroy democracy and Goa," Sardesai tweeted on Sunday evening, moments after Kamat weaned away Goa Forward Councilor Raju Naik in the BJP.
He also directed his ire at Kamat over the Margao MLA’s statement on cross-voting by Margao Municipal councillors, saying: "Freshly defected Digambar Kamat criticises MMC councillor’s cross-voting. Nothing can be this farcical and absurd.”
The Goa Forward Party had resigned to its fate in the Margao civic body no sooner after Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai gave his assent to the Ordinance doing away with the election by secret ballot.
The party received a further blow on Sunday when party senior four-time councillor Raju Naik, whose name was doing the rounds in political circles as one of the councillors likely to switch sides, finally moved out of the party to embrace the BJP.
