Panaji, Sep 18 (PTI) Eight MLAs who recently switched over from the Congress to the ruling BJP in Goa will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Monday, a senior party leader said on Sunday.
Six of them will leave for Delhi by flight on Sunday night, while MLAs Michael Lobo and Digambar Kamat, who are currently out of station, will join them in the national capital, he said.
The MLAs, led by Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and BJP state unit president Sadanand Tanavade, will meet the prime minister on Monday, he said.
Earlier on Wednesday, MLAs Digambar Kamat, Michael Lobo, Delilah Lobo, Kedar Naik, Rajesh Phaldesai, Sankalp Amonkar, Rudolf Fernandes and Aleixo Sequeira had joined the BJP after passing a resolution in a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party.
According to BJP sources, the MLAs are also likely to meet BJP president J P Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah during their Delhi visit, but their appointments are not confirmed yet.
The BJP retained power in the 40-member Goa Assembly after the elections in March this year.
The BJP now has 28 MLAs in the 40-member Assembly, while the Congress’s number has reduced to three.
CM Sawant had on Thursday met Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai amid talk of a cabinet reshuffle in the wake of eight Congress MLAs joining the ruling BJP.
The chief minister later said the meeting had nothing to do with politics.
The Goa cabinet currently has 11 ministers from the BJP, besides Sudin Dhavalikar of the ally Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party.
The state can have maximum of 12 ministers. PTI RPS ARU GK GK
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