Turncoat MLA alleges Goa Congress leaders sold party posts, Assembly tickets

Panaji: Sankalp Amonkar, one of the eight Congress MLAs in Goa who switched over to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Friday accused senior Congress leaders of selling party posts as well as tickets for the February 2022 Assembly elections.

The Congress leaders against whom he levelled allegations were not available for comment.

Speaking at a press conference, Amonkar accused All India Congress Committee (AICC) Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao of selling tickets for at least 12 Assembly constituencies to wealthy individuals, adding that several crores of rupees changed hands in this.

He was making these revelations as Rao had accused him and other MLAs of accepting “Rs 40-50 crore” to join the BJP, he said.

“The posts of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee chief and Congress Legislature Party chief were sold. Those who were new in the party were offered these posts after accepting money. The deal was struck in my presence,” he alleged.

AICC general secretary K C Venugopal was in the know about these dealings, he further alleged.

He also questioned the need to employ an agency from Bengaluru for media management for Rs 200 crore. State Congress paid another firm Rs 50 lakh per constituency for a survey that never took place, Amonkar claimed.

“Why were agencies from Bengaluru selected for the work when there were local companies that had quoted less fees,” he asked.

The Mormugao MLA held Rahul Gandhi responsible for “finishing off” the Congress, saying he was leading the Bharat Jodo Yatra without wanting to be party president.

“They want the AICC president to be a rubber stamp. They want someone to take responsibility and accountability for Congress’s failures. They did the same thing when Dr Manmohan Singh was made prime minister. The entire government was run by the Gandhi family,” he alleged.

While Rao or Goa Congress chief Amit Patkar were not available for comments, a senior Congress leader from the state said Amonkar should not be taken seriously as he was now part of the BJP.