Ex-Congress CM Ravi Naik scoffs at rumours about reported switch to BJP

Political circles in Goa were caught in a tizzy, amid rumours of yet another Congress MLA, this time a former Chief Minister, joining the BJP ranks on Wednesday.

Former Chief Minister Ravi Naik, who has in recent times been slamming the state Congress leadership and whose two sons joined the BJP last year, has however scoffed at the rumours, even as state Bharatiya Janata Party president Sadanand Shet Tanavade also dismissed the reports as an instance of "100 per cent falsehood".

"There are four former CMs. There's Rane, Luizoinho Faleiro, DIgambar and Ravi. These are the four ex CMs. Please confirm before writing, don't write half baked stuff... I have no idea about this. The reputation of journalism is being slandered, because of such news reports," Naik told reporters. Naik and the three other former Chief Ministers are a part of a five-member Congress legislative party.

Naik, whose sons Ravi and Ritesh joined the BJP last year, also said that if he does plan to leave the party, he would announce it beforehand. State BJP president Sadanand Shet Tanavade also dismissed the reports of a former Congress CM joining his party.

"I don't know why these kinds of rumours are spread. There is no truth to this. I am the state president. If someone needs to be taken into the party, the discussion should have happened with me. I know nothing about this issue. It is meaningless. Someone may have started this rumour. There is no truth to this. It is a 100 per cent falsehood," Tanavade insisted.

The Congress party in Goa has been at the receiving end of a series of betrayals by its MLAs over the last few years. 13 Congress MLAs have quit the party after being elected on a Congress ticket in 2017 state assembly polls.

Health Minister Vishwajit Rane was the first to quit the Congress soon after the Manohar Parrikar-led government was sworn in, followed by the party's MLAs Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte. All three resigned from the party and were re-elected as BJP MLAs.

In 2019, the party faced yet another exodus, with 10 MLAs, including then Opposition leader Chandrakant Kavlekar split the party's 15 member legislative unit before merging it into the BJP.