Goa CM, 8 turncoat Congress MLAs meet Amit Shah, JP Nadda

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday met Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda along with eight Congress MLAs who switched over to the saffron party.

However, the opposition targeted Sawant for his inability to get an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

''If PM was not scheduled to meet them, why did Sawant say so? Was it just to gain publicity or is his 'High Command' avoiding him? Sawant must clarify,'' NCP spokesperson Clyde Crasto said.

Sawant, the eight turncoat MLAs, and Goa BJP chief Sadanand Shet Tanvade met Shah and Nadda at the party headquarters here.

The Goa chief minister and six MLAs had reached the national capital on Sunday night, while two MLAs joined them here on Monday.

Sawant was camping at Goa Sadan for the entire day and drove down to the BJP headquarters only at 6 pm to meet Shah and Nadda.

Last week, eight Congress 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.

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.

The Goa cabinet currently has 11 ministers from the BJP, besides Sudin Dhavalikar of the ally Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)