PANAJI:
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday said the three MGP MLAs - PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar, Tourism Minister Manohar (Babu) Ajgaonkar and MLA Deepak Pauskar - are steadfastly with the government and the petition filed by its members against the resignation of ex-Congress MLAs Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte to join the saffron party is only a publicity gimmick.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, BJP general secretary Sadanand Tanvade said they would not engage with the MGP to influence it and withdraw the petition.
"We have faith in the High Court which will decide the issues raised in the petition," Tanvade said, adding that the party is confident that the petition will be dismissed.
Tanvade said, the party leadership had direct conversation with the MGP MLAs as recently as Wednesday.
"We have spoken to Ajgaonkar and Pauskar. Dhavalikar was not reachable as he is out of station," Tanvade said, adding that the move of two party people to move a petition in the High Court will serve no purpose other than 'public entertainment'.
Two members of the MGP, including a former Central Committee member Satyawan Palkar and Vikas Prabhu, filed a writ petition in the High Court seeking an order restraining ex-MLAs of Congress Dayanand Sopte and Subash Shirodkar, who quit as MLAs to join the BJP, from contesting the by-elections as BJP candidates.
The petition also questions the role of Speaker Pramod Sawant in accepting the faxed resignations of Shirodkar and Sopte without 'application of mind'. It also terms the move of the legislators to quit the Congress and join the BJP and get appointed as chairmen of state-owned corporations as 'horse-trading'.
