Former CM Churchill Alemao helped Congress rebels get required number to defect to BJP
The rebels roped in Churchill Alemao as they struggled to get the required number of eight lawmakers to defect to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) without attracting disqualification proceedings
Former chief minister Churchill Alemao played a key role in convincing Rodolfo Fernandes to join the Congress rebels as they were one short of the number required to defect to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) without attracting disqualification proceedings by convincing him that he will be the only one left out.
Two people aware of the matter said the rebels roped in Alemao as they struggled to get the required number of eight lawmakers. Alemao approached Congress lawmakers Altone D’Costa and Fernandes to convince at least one of them to switch sides and help the breakaway group get the number.
“He visited D’Costa and told him about the plan …when [he] the could not convince him, he approached Fernandes and told him that D’Costa has agreed to join he will be left out,” said a person aware of the negotiations, requesting anonymity.
D’Costa acknowledged he was approached with offers but refused to name those involved. “Those who wanted to go have gone, but I have stood firmly by my principles. Many of those who came from political families were all too eager to go,” D’Costa said when asked if Alemao approached him.
Fernandes is believed to have confided in his supporters that Alemao deceived him into believing D’Costa has agreed to switch and that if he did not his colleague would join the rebels. He was convinced that almost all others were going and prompted Fernandes to join the breakaway group, said one of the persons cited above.
Fernandes refused to comment when asked how he was approached to change his mind.
Alemao, a former Congress leader who joined the Trinamool Congress ahead of the 2022 assembly polls, remained unavailable for comments despite repeated attempts to reach him.
The defections come months after a split in Congress was averted in the state in July after rebels failed to get the requisite number to switch to the BJP without attracting disqualification proceedings under the anti-defection law.
The Congress then rushed Goa in charge Dinesh Gundu Rao, who held repeated meetings with the lawmakers to prevent the defection. The Congress then took five lawmakers to at an undisclosed location ahead of the presidential elections.
“Back then, the breakaway group had the support of seven lawmakers… at least one of whom was in two minds at the time while an attempt to convince an eighth lawmaker failed. Fernandes was not a target of the breakaway group back then,” second a second person.
The breakaway group agreed to approach Fernandes after they were unable to secure the required number. The BJP has insisted eight Congress lawmakers voluntarily approached the party’s top leadership for a merger.
Eight of Congress’s 11 lawmakers joined the BJP on Wednesday in the latest in a series of defections from the Opposition party days after Rahul Gandhi kicked off 3,700 km-long foot march Bharat Jodo Yatra to revive its flagging electoral fortunes amid internal turmoil.
