Goa Assembly election 2017: Yet another Congress MLA defects to ruling BJP

Goa Congress MLA Pandurang Madkaikar resigned from the party as well as the state Assembly to join the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday. Madkaikar is the second Congress MLA to resign this month. Last week, Congress MLA from Dabolim constituency Mauvin Godinho had also quit the party to join BJP.

"The resignation was submitted before the Speaker which stands accepted," state Legislature Secretary Nilkant Subhedar told PTI.

Madkaikar is a former state Transport Minister and three-term MLA from Cumbharjua constituency. Madkaikar joined the BJP in the presence of Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar.

"Madkaikar has filled the form for primary membership of the party," BJP Goa unit chief Vinay Tendulkar said. The Goa BJP chief did not reveal if Madkaikar would contest the election from Cumbharjua seat in the upcoming polls.

"I was not happy in Congress. The Congress state leadership has failed completely," Madkaikar said. He said that Congress has no future in the state and hence took the decision to leave.

The term of the current Legislative Assembly ends on March 18, 2017. In the last Assembly election, BJP had won 21 seats and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was named the Goa Chief Minister. Parrikar resigned from his post when he was selected to be the defence minister in 2014.

Laxmikant Parsekar had taken over the position from Parrikar.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is also in the fray in the upcoming elections. The former IG prisons Elvis Gomes will be AAP's chief ministerial candidate for Goa. Gomes had taken voluntary retirement in July and started campaigning for the party. Gomes was also director of Municipal Administration and Tourism, chairperson of Goa Housing Board, commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Panjim, and Captain of Ports.

When he retired, Gomes was IG Prisons and Urban Development Secretary. He still holds the position of Goa Football Association's President.