PANAJI
The tremors of Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte's likelihood of joining the BJP has triggered a sharp revulsion in the party's Porvorim Mandal.
North Goa BJP president Mahanand Asnodkar, who attended a meeting of key party workers from Porvorim in the presence of state BJP president Sadanand Shet Tanavade and the party's organising secretary Satish Dhond, said how could the BJP accept a person who referred to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant as 'Pappu'.
Asnodkar said that the workers were sounded out about the possibility of Khaunte being fielded as the ruling party's candidate in the upcoming elections. The instructions to Dhond and Tanavade to induct Khaunte, Asnodkar said, came right from the "top".
"They had called key workers from the Porvorim Mandal. The meeting was chaired by Tanavade and Satish bab. They have directly given a hint that a decision has been made at the top that Rohan should be inducted," Asnodkar said.
The BJP office-bearer also said if Khaunte is inducted by the party, not only would the Porvorim BJP workers not work for him, but they would actively canvas against his candidature.
"If Rohan is allowed into the BJP, we will work against him. The entire BJP will work against him. He has harassed BJP workers in Porvorim and they are even facing (criminal) cases currently," Asnodkar said, accusing Khaunte of taking personal revenge against party workers.
"He has even called the CM names like 'Pappu'. After the government comes to power, will the same Rohan Khaunte work under Pramod Sawant after elections? I believe that every self-respecting BJP worker will not only vote against him, but a canvas for his defeat too," Asnodkar said.
In his political career, Khaunte has been elected to the state assembly as an independent MLA on two occasions in 2012 and 2017. He served his first term as an Opposition MLA and used the tenure to slam the BJP-led coalition governments led by chief ministers late Manohar Parrikar and Laxmikant Parsekar.
In the 2017 polls, Khaunte's victory can be attributed to tacit support from Congress, but after the result, Rohan ended up in Parrikar's cabinet holding an important portfolio like the Revenue Ministry.
His two-year stint as minister came to an end after Parrikar's death, when Sawant chose to dump alliance partners like MGP, Goa Forward and Khaunte himself from the cabinet.
In his opposition boots once again, Rohan again lashed out at the treasury benches now led by Sawant and was hustling for an entry into the Congress by the time the state assembly polls neared.
Several of his key workers even joined the Congress last month, before resigning from the party earlier this week, indicating that Khaunte's political canoe was perhaps readying to dock at another jetty.
