PANAJI
After slamming the BJP-led coalition government, specifically targetting Chief Minister Pramod Sawant consistently ever since he was dropped from the treasury benches in 2019, Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte became the third legislator to resign as MLA over the last one month.
A jump to the BJP seems likely in wake of an exercise conducted by the state BJP on Wednesday, which involved sounding out its party workers in the Porvorim mandal over Khaunte’s likely entry into the party as its Porvorim candidate.
Khaunte earlier on Wednesday submitted his resignation as MLA to the Speaker of the state legislative assembly Rajesh Patnekar.
“I have resigned today. We will decide the next step soon,” Khaunte said soon after tendering his resignation, while urging reporters to take a “deep breath” instead of posing questions to him about his next move and whether he was likely to join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Interestingly, Khaunte who actively tweets messages on social media, did not tweet his resignation as an MLA till late on Wednesday.
Asked what propelled him to take the decision to resign as an independent legislator, Khaunte said: “Political situation is changing with the entry of new political parties, which are setting up shops selling their toys in Goa”.
To pointed questions, as to whether he was likely to join the BJP, Khaunte urged the media to wait “for two days” for the answer, claiming he would be consulting his key political workers in Porvorim.
Khaunte is the third legislator to submit his resignation to the Speaker.
