Amit Shah coming to Goa for MLA shopping: Congress

Panaji   :  The Congress on Friday accused BJP national president Amit Shah of "MLA shopping", two days ahead of his one-day visit to the coastal state.

State Congress President Girish Chodankar also told reporters at the party state headquarters that the opposition party's leaders would stage a protest when Shah visits the state on Sunday.

"No MLA is left in our party who is up for sale. From what Vishwajit (State Health Minister Vishwajit Rane) has said, it appears that Amit Shah is coming to Goa for MLA shopping.

"I think Amit Shah is not a leader. Vishwajit has referred to him as a dealer, who is coming to Goa for dealings," Chodankar told reporters, hours after BJP's Rane said "at least two Congress MLAs" were likely to meet Shah to speak about the possibility of switching over from the opposition party to the ruling dispensation.

Rane had switched over from the Congress to the BJP on the day of the trust vote, which was eventually won by the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar-led coalition government in Goa in March last year.

On Sunday, Shah is expected to hold a meeting each with ruling coalition partners and members of BJP's legislative wing respectively, before addressing a gathering of BJP's booth workers at an indoor stadium near the state capital.

Chodankar said the Congress on Sunday would also demand appointment of a full-time Chief Minister in the absence of the ailing Manohar Parrikar, who is currently in a US hospital undergoing treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer.