PANAJI
Senior Congress leader Digambar Kamat on Wednesday scoffed at reports that he is likely to jump ship and return to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party even as such a possibility was being widely speculated throughout the day in media and political circles.
Kamat, who was recently overlooked by the Congress High Command for the position of Opposition Leader, claimed his visit to Delhi on Tuesday was for a relative’s marriage ceremony and had nothing to do with politics.
He returned to Goa on Wednesday evening.
Earlier in the day, a few national media outlets reported that Kamat is “likely to resign” from the Congress and join the BJP. Some of these reports even suggested that he would be inducted in the Pramod Sawant cabinet and allocated the power portfolio.
There are still three cabinet berths vacant with Sawant appointing only eight ministers in the first round.
Also, in the portfolio allocation exercise, Sawant has refrained from giving out the power and education portfolios besides the Finance and Home ministries.
The veteran Margao MLA, who did a stint as Chief Minister of a Congress-led government in the 2007-12 term, is the only politician post Goa’s Statehood to have completed a full five-year term at the helm.
When contacted, he dismissed the speculative reports that he is likely to switch from the Congress to the BJP and added that his trip to Delhi was purely personal and had nothing to do with politics.
“These reports are not even worth commenting on. Even in the previous term such allegations were being made about me defecting,” Kamat told The Goan.
In the recent assembly elections, Kamat was billed as a front-runner to be chief minister if the Congress had earned the numbers to claim power.
However, the Opposition party lagged far behind the half-way mark bagging just 11 seats while the BJP won 20 and got
propelled to power.
Meanwhile, in more political drama on Wednesday, the Congress’ newly elected MLA from Cumbharjua, Rajesh Faldesai, created a flutter when he visited the Panaji headquarters of the BJP during the latter’s foundation day event.
Faldesai greeted Sawant with a bouquet, exchanged greetings with other senior BJP leaders and also attended the Satyanarayan pooja there.
When contacted, Faldesai however said, it was a personal gesture because he has relations with Sawant and has got nothing to do with him switching sides.
“I am a Congress MLA and I will remain with the Congress,” Faldesai said, adding that being an Opposition MLA he has to tread the difficult path of maintaining workable relations with the government to ensure constituency-level issues are resolved and development works carried out.
