BJP laughs at TMC as 5 Goa netas quit; says 'Mamata embarrassing Bengal across India'

Scoffing at its primary rival - TMC, BJP Bengal and Goa poked fun at TMC chief Mamata Banerjee on Friday, after 5 TMC leaders quit the party, terming it 'communal'. BJP alleged that Banerjee was embarrassing West Bengal across India with her violent politics and misgovernance in the state. It added that these were resulting backlash in Tripura and Goa. The coastal state, along with Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Punjab go to the polls in February 2022.

BJP: 'Embarrassing Bengal across India'

5 TMC leaders quit party

On Friday, five primary members of Trinamool Congress Goa tendered their resignation to the Bengal CM stating that the party had a motive to divide the people of Goa. The letter which states "We do not want to continue with a party which is trying to divide Goans," is signed by 5 TMC leaders - ex-MLA Lavoo Mamledar, Ram Kishor Parwar, Komal Parwar, Sujay Mallik, Mandrekar. These leaders were the first to join TMC in Goa, switching from Congress.

"I had joined the party as I was really impressed with the party's performance in West Bengal assembly polls. I was under the impression that it is a secular party but what I have noticed in the past 15-20 days, it is worst than BJP," said Mamledar. Commenting on the 'Lakshmi Bhandar' scheme, he said that the party has been giving only Rs 500 in West Bengal, whereas they have promised Rs 5,000 for women under the 'Griha Lakshmi' scheme in Goa which is next to impossible. "This is just a scheme to collect data from Goa", he remarked.

Political jumping in Goa

Recently, ex-Goa CM Ravi Naik resigned as the party MLA from the state Assembly reducing the Congress' strength to three in Goa. Later, Naik joined BJP in the presence of Fadnavis and Sawant in Panaji. . Prior to Naik, Congress had already lost ex-CM Luizinho Faleiro to Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress. Moreover, Fadnavis claimed veteran Congressman and former chief minister Pratapsingh Rane might join the ruling party soon. Moreover, NCP's lone MLA Churchill Alamao has jumped ship to TMC switching his allegiance to the Bengal-based party during West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's visit to the state. The BJP also faced defection with - MLA Alina Saldanha switching AAP & MLA Carlos Almeida joined Congress.

Goa poll campaign

While AAP is aggressively campaigning in Goa, promising a Delhi-like model, TMC too has been eyeing too make inroads in the state. With popular inductees like Leander Paes, ex-Goa CM Luizinho Faleiro, TMC has promised out Bengal-like schemes in Goa. On the other hand, Congress has joined hands with Goa Forward Party (GFP), NCP, MGB to take on the BJP.  In 2019, 10 of 15 Congress MLAs merged with the ruling BJP, increasing the saffron party's strength to 27 in the 40-seat house. Congress, which had emerged as the single-largest party after 2017 Assembly polls in the coastal state, was reduced to five legislators.