Goa's Independent MLA withdraws govt support over CM's remarks

Goa's Independent MLA Prasad Gaonkar on Wednesday withdrew his support from the Pramod Sawant-led BJP government in the state in the wake of chief minister's allegations against him of being involved in land deals.

Goa's Independent MLA Prasad Gaonkar on Wednesday withdrew his support from the Pramod Sawant-led BJP government in the state in the wake of chief minister's allegations against him of being involved in land deals. Gaonkar, who represents Sanguem Assembly constituency, submitted a letter about withdrawal of support to the state governor.

With this, the number of ruling camp MLAs in the 40- member state Assembly has come down to 29 from 30. Of them, 27 are from the BJP, while two others are- NCP's Churchill Alemao and Independent legislator Govind Gaude. The opposition now has 11 MLAs, including five from Congress, three of the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and two Independents- Gaonkar and Rohan Khaunte- and one from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP).

"I have submitted the letter to the governor, informing him about my withdrawal of support from Pramod Sawant led government," Gaonkar told reporters. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had on Monday accused Gaonkar of indulging in land deals for the proposed IIT project in the state.

Sawant had said that Gaonkar was striking deals in the name of acquiring land for IIT project at Sanguem. The project, which was initially supposed to come up at Sanguem, was shifted to Sattari after the government failed to get the land.

Reacting to the accusations, Gaonkar said that he was "shocked" over Sawant's statement. "Let him prove the accusations against me. I was shocked the way he made the statement against me," he said.

Gaonkar said he has lost faith in Pramod Sawant as a CM, due to which he was withdrawing his support. The MLA said that he would exposed the BJP-led government and its failure in the coming days.