Goa: Ex-Congress MLA Vishwajit Rane to join BJP today

Panaji: Former Goa Congress MLA Vishwajit Rane, who defied the party whip to vote against the trust motion of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar last month, would be joining the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday.

Rane, who was elected from Valpoi constituency, had resigned from the Congress and quit his Assembly membership after absenting himself from the House when Parrikar sought the trust vote.

Rane is the son of Congress veteran and former chief minister Pratapsinh Rane, who was also elected to the Assembly from Poriem seat in North Goa during the recent state polls.

State BJP president Vinay Tendulkar had told reporters on Wednesday that Rane had been in talks with the party leadership for several days.

The BJP Goa legislature wing recently adopted a resolution seeking Rane's induction into the party and also in the Cabinet.

BJP sources said Rane could soon be inducted into the Manohar Parrikar-led coalition cabinet.

Rane quit the Congress last month after being upset that the party failed to form the government in Goa despite it emerging as the single largest party winning 17 seats in the 40-member Assembly.

 

Rane had said internal bickering and failure of the Congress state leadership and the party high command, including All India Congress Committee General Secretary Digvijaya Singh, to stake claim had left him disillusioned.

"The Congress leadership had let us all down," Rane had said.

In the trust vote held in the House, Parrikar proved his majority with 12 legislators from BJP, three from Goa Forward Party , three from Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, three Independents and one from NCP voting in favour of the trust motion.

The opposition benches included 16 MLAs from Congress, as Rane had remained absent during the voting.

After failing to defeat the trust motion, the Goa Congress said it would seek disqualification of Rane from contesting elections for defying its whip to vote against the motion.

(With Agency inputs)