PANAJI/VASCO/CANACONA: Supporters of the Speaker of the legislative assembly Anant Shet as well as Minister for Agriculture Ramesh Tawadkar have warned the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders that Shet and Tawadkar would leave the party and contest the forthcoming state assembly election as Independent candidates if denied the BJP candidature.
The warning came after the first list of candidates was announced by the BJP in New Delhi on Thursday, which did not figure the candidates for Mayem and Canacona, presently represented by Shet and Tawadkar, respectively.
Incidentally, Congressman Praveen Zantye, and the former BJP legislator, Vijat Pai Khot are vying for the BJP candidature for contesting the polls from the Mayem and Canacona constituencies.
BJP’s South Goa vice-president Krishna ‘Daji’ Salkar bid goodbye to the party with his workers, earlier in the day and decided to contest the forthcoming state assembly election from the port town after the party re-nominated the sitting MLA from the constituency Carlos Almeida.
Besides Salkar, other workers holding important positions in the Vasco BJP have also resigned from the party.
Salkar told the media persons in the city that party leaders have failed to take the workers into confidence while allocating the Vasco seat to sitting Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida.
Salkar, who had been an aspirant for the party ticket in the assembly segment, has decided to contest the assembly elections as an Independent candidate.
The other party workers who sent their resignations to state BJP president Vinay Tendulkar include Vasco BJP vice-presidents Deepak Narvekar and Girish Borkar; Vasco BJP women wing vice-president Neeta Savoiverenkar; former BJP Yuva Morcha president Damodar Lotlikar; former BJP Yuva Morcha vice-president Prashant Narvekar; executive committee member Ankush Chari and Haripal Patel.
Members of Canacona BJP unit and youth and women’s wings on Thursday held a meeting and decided that if Tawadkar is not given party ticket for the polls then they would resign en masse and work against the BJP in Canacona.
Tawadkar held another meeting of party workers at Chaudi in the evening, making it clear that he would not cooperate with the BJP if he is not nominated.