'Things people do in front of God...': Goa CM Pramod Sawant's dig after Congress-GFP candidates take anti-defection oath

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday took a dig at the Congress and the Goa Forward Party (GFP) after its candidates took an anti-defection oath in presence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

"They (Congress-Goa Forward Party candidates, who took a pledge) have to prove time & again that they're loyal to Congress. Things people do in front of God... now have to be done in front of Rahul Gandhi. People trust & will support BJP," news agency ANI quoted Sawant as saying.

On Friday, all candidates from the Congress-Goa Forward alliance took oath on the Constitution to not defect or resign from the party in the course of their five-year term as legislators, if elected.

The oath was administered in the presence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was on a day-long tour to the poll-bound state where elections are scheduled to be held on February 14.

"Many politicians have used the Congress party ticket to become MLAs and then quit. This will re-affirm the faith of the people of Goa about the Congress and that its legislators would not quit after being elected," Congress candidate from the Panaji Assembly constituency Elvis Gomes told reporters after taking the oath.

Last month, all Congress candidates had taken similar oaths in places of religious worship, like temples, chapel and a dargah, against defection.

As many as 15 out of the 17 Congress MLAs who were elected to the Assembly in the 2017 polls had quit the party, forcing the Congress to make a public display of its candidate's faith in the party.

Meanwhile, slamming Gandhi, Sawant said the former Congress chief visited Goa as a tourist. No one takes him seriously and therefore there is no need to respond to his criticism of the coastal state's government, he added.

"Do not go into Rahul Gandhi's allegations. Rahul Gandhi will come here as a tourist and make allegations. Do not go by his accusations. I do not know what he was doing in Goa if he cannot see any development in the state. No one takes him seriously. There is no worry," he said a day after Gandhi accused Sawant of heading a corrupt government.

(With IANS inputs)

Published on: Saturday, February 05, 2022, 04:37 PM IST