PANAJI
Ramesh Tawadkar on Sunday submitted his resignation to the Governor as the Member of Legislative Assembly and Minister of Tribal Welfare and Sports.
He also resigned from the primary membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Speaking to The Goan, Tawadkar stated, "I have submitted my resignations. I am presently in talks with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party-led alliance. Things will become clear by Monday."
Tawadkar's exit comes at a time when Vijay Pai Khot, a former Canacaona MLA who conceded the seat to Tawadkar in 2012, is set fight on the BJP ticket for a return to the Assembly from Canacona, a long-standing BJP constituency.
Sitting MLA and minister Tawadkar was the Poiguinim MLA from 2005 till 2012, when the two constituencies in the taluka were merged. Interestingly, observers began reading electoral tea leaves for Canacona when Tawadkar was booked by Canacona police earlier this month for wrongfully restraining and criminally intimidating a person for allegedly addressing a gathering organised by Pai Khot at his residence. The complainant allegedly spoke against Tawadkar at the event.
Meanwhile, Pravin Zantye is likely to file his nomination as the BJP candidate from Mayem on Tuesday. In 2012, he had gone to polls as an independent candidate against BJP's Anant Shet and had suffered a defeat by a margin of 5,633 votes. Shet had polled a whopping 11,880 votes. However, the latest party survey conducted by the BJP cautioned against fielding the sitting Mayem MLA owing to a heavy loss of popularity.
