Cong not interested in forming govt in Goa, says defecting MLA

Former Goa minister Subhash Shirodkar, who quit the Congress to join the ruling BJP, claimed Wednesday the opposition party was never interested in forming government in the state because of the factions within it.

Shirodkar also said the Congress never had the numbers to form government in the state and that its previous bid to stake claim for power was "merely a strategy" to keep party members together.

Regretting that he "wasted" 20 months in the party, he said he now feels he should have quit the Congress last year, soon after the state polls were held.

Shirodkar and another Congress legislator Dayanand Sopte resigned Tuesday as members of the state assembly and also from the party's primary membership. Both later joined the BJP.

He said the Congress, which had won 17 seats after the assembly elections in March last year, was "never interested in forming the government" because of the factions within the party.

"There are at least three-four leaders in the Congress who want to become chief minister. They will never arrive at a consensus," he told PTI in Panaji.

Shirodkar, who was a part of the Congress delegation that met Governor Mridula Sinha to stake claim to form the government last month, said, "It was merely a strategy of the party to keep its flock intact. They also wanted to send a signal to BJP's allies. They never had the numbers."