Former CM Digambar Kamat haven't joined BJP: Goa Congress President

Goa Congress President Girish Chodankar on Wednesday denied reports of Congress MLA and former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat joining the BJP and said it was an attempt by the BJP to divert people's attention from the failures of its coalition government.

Reports in a section of the media, quoting BJP sources in the national capital, had said that Kamat, who is one of the keys accused in Goa's Rs 35,000 crore illegal mining scam and the Louis Berger bribery scandal, was likely to join the Bharatiya Janta Party with three other MLAs later in September. Congress currently has 16 members in the 40-member Goa legislative assembly, while BJP has 14 MLAs.

Kamat had quit the BJP and joined the Congress more than a decade ago and had subsequently been Goa Chief Minister heading a Congress-led coalition government from 2007-12. Kamat has been unavailable for comment since Tuesday when media reports started emerging.

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