PANAJI
Accusing political parties from other states of setting up 'temporary' shops in Goa ahead of the 2022 assembly polls, state Bharatiya Janata Party president Sadanand Shet Tanavade on Friday said that only the BJP had a permanent shop licence in Goa.
"New parties are setting up shops in Goa. Some people come from Delhi, some have come from Delhi and set up their shops," Tanavade said at a function organised in Panaji for the formal induction of the now-former Goa Forward MLA Jayesh Salgaonkar into the BJP.
"All these shops have a temporary licence. Their licences are not permanent. Only the BJP has a permanent licence because the BJP workers and candidates are from Goa itself," he also said.
In a late development on Thursday night, Salgaonkar, who served as a cabinet minister in the government headed by former chief minister Manohar Parrikar and briefly in the Sawant cabinet, resigned as MLA.
Speculation had been rife about Salgaonkar switching political parties, with some suggesting that the former Saligao MLA would join the Congress. Salgaonkar put the speculation to rest by joining the ruling party on Friday. Earlier on Friday, Salgaonkar also visited the Mahalaxmi temple in Panaji to seek blessings from the deity ahead of formally joining the BJP in the presence of Tanavade, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and other party office bearers.
According to Tanavade, Salgaonkar chose the BJP because the party believed in the integrity of the nation.
"There were a lot of rumours being spread about Jayesh joining the Congress. But Jayesh felt that his political future depended on joining a party which believed in national integrity," the state BJP president said.
Tanavade also said that the BJP would come to power again after the 2022 state assembly polls.
"We have been in power in Goa for the last 10 years and in 2022 BJP will form a government in Goa. There is no doubt about that," Tanavade said.
