AERIAL VIEW
Rumours are that Kamat is upset as the party did not take him into confidence before taking such a step. He is now contemplating resigning as MLA and re-contesting the Margao seat on a BJP ticket. It is also being said he has demanded “Power” portfolio from CM Pramod Sawant.
However, Kamat rejected the rumours, saying he did not meet any BJP leaders and that his trip to Delhi was personal.
Now the question is, Kamat may want to join the BJP but does the saffron brigade really need him?
BJP already has 20 seats in the kitty while they have the support of two MGP legislators and three independents.
So as of now, the BJP is sitting pretty with a strength of 25, but ahead of the 2024 parliamentary polls, the party wants to make sure it wins both the seats in North and South Goa.
SURAJ NANDREKAR
Editor, Goemkarponn
There have been a lot of speculations that the former Chief Minister of Goa and the former Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat is all set to join the Congress.
There is no denying that Kamat is contemplating a drastic move after the Congress High Command ignored him and appointed new recruit Michael Lobo as the Leader of Opposition.
However, Kamat was appointed as a permanent invitee to Congress Working Committee.
Rumours are that Kamat is upset as the party did not take him into confidence before taking such a step. He is now contemplating resigning as MLA and re-contesting the Margao seat on a BJP ticket. It is also being said he has demanded “Power” portfolio from CM Pramod Sawant.
However, Kamat rejected the rumours, saying he did not meet any BJP leaders and that his trip to Delhi was personal.
Now the question is, Kamat may want to join the BJP but does the saffron brigade really need him?
BJP already has 20 seats in the kitty while they have the support of two MGP legislators and three independents.
So as of now, the BJP is sitting pretty with a strength of 25, but ahead of the 2024 parliamentary polls, the party wants to make sure it wins both the seats in North and South Goa.
In 2019, the BJP lost the South Goa seat by a narrow margin as Sudin Dhavalikar of MGP worked against their candidate Narendra Sawaikar. This time around, the BJP does not want to take any chance and wants to give both seats to the party.
In that bargain, the BJP has kept its doors open to the South Goa leaders – especially Digambar Kamat and Goa Forward’s Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai.
However, the BJP has to be cautious because it was the same Digambar Kamat who had brought down the Manohar Parrikar government in 2005-06.
He had claimed that he was feeling “suffocated” in the BJP. Kamat then went on to become the CM in 2007 in a Congress-led government.
Another reason the BJP avoids him would be that the current Pramod Sawant Cabinet is full of former Congressmen.
Mauvin Godinho, Ravi Naik, Subhash Shirodkar, Vishwajit Rane and Babush Monseratte. In all probabilities, Alexio Reginald Lourenco would also get a Cabinet berth in the next expansion, so it would become six, and if Digambar enters, it would be seven out of 12.
For Kamat, it is a “do or die” situation. After becoming CM for five years from 2007-2012, he has been out of power for the third term now. Hence, he wants to join BJP and get a ministry by hook or crook.
Another point Sawant, who has promised a clean and zero corruption government, will have to keep in mind is the baggage Kamat carries along with him. Kamat has several cases against him, be it the Louis Berger bribery scam, the illegal mining case, etc.
So by taking Kamat, Sawant would be adding another minister with a criminal background to his Cabinet.
