 "Congress leader Madkaikar resigns from Goa Assembly, joins BJP")
In yet another setback for Congress in poll-bound Goa, its legislator Pandurang Madkaikar on Thursday resigned as Member of Goa Legislative Assembly, days after Dabolim constituency MLA Mauvin Godinho quit the party.
Shortly after tendering his resignation, Madkaikar joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
"The resignation was submitted before the Speaker which stands accepted," state Legislature Secretary Nilkant Subhedar said.
Madkaikar, a three-term MLA from Cumbharjua constituency and former state transport minister, is the second Congress legislator after Mauvin Godinho to quit the party ahead of the Goa polls.
Godinho had on December 16 quit the Congress after resigning as a member of the state Legislative Assembly, and formally joined the ruling BJP.
Soon after his resignation, Madkaikar joined BJP in the presence of Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar.
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"Madkaikar has filled the form for primary membership of the party," BJP Goa unit chief Vinay Tendulkar said.
Tendulkar, however, refused to divulge if Madkaikar would contest on the party's ticket fromCumbharjua seat, in the Goa Assembly elections due early next year.
"I was not happy in Congress. The Congress state leadership has failed completely," Madkaikar said.
He claimed that there is no future for Congress in the state and this is what prompted him to take the decision.