Goa Forward Party president, Prabhakar Timble, has resigned from the party minutes after the newly elected MLAs extended support to the BJP to form the government in the state.
Vijai Sardesai had earlier confirmed that he along with other two MLAs had decided to extended their support to the BJP with Manohar Parrikar as the new chief minister.
Timble told Janta Ka Reporter, “I’m not happy with this decision and, therefore, I am resigning from the party’s president post.”
He added, “I am not averse to extending support to BJP, but the abrasive manner in which the decision has been taken by three MLAs has left me hurt. I spoke to Vijai for three hours in the morning and explained to him why we needed to wait for at least a week before taking a call. We were still in conversation with Congress when I heard from media that Vijai has already signed a letter of support.”
Timble also released a statement later (below).
In the new assembly, Congress has won 17 seats while the BJP’s tally has gone down to 13. Maharashtrawadi Gomantak has won three while the NCP has won one seat and three have been won by independent candidates. Both Congress and the BJP need 21 MLAs to form the government. For Congress, it has the support of one NCP MLA and an independent MLA. It required the support of three MLAs of Goa Forward party.
Goa Forward is peeved over the way Congress ditched the alliance before the polls, allegedly at the behest of Faleiro. Faleriro had then caused huge political controversy in the coastal state by expressing his willingness to seek support from the breakaway group of the RSS.
The party’s central leadership had, however, rejected the idea.