Congress denies 10 MLAs wanted to join BJP

Panaji:The war of words between BJP and the Congress over horsetrading of legislators intensified on Thursday, after state Congress President Girish Chodankar accused his BJP counterpart Vinay Tendulkar of 'lying'.

Tendulkar on Wednesday claimed that a fortnight ago 10 Congress MLAs wanted to merge the legislative unit of the opposition party into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, their request was rejected by the BJP High Command.

Reacting on this, Chodankar said that Tendulkar's claim was "blatantly false".

"Sometimes he says two Congress MLAs are in touch with him, next time he says four. After that he said that the BJP is not in touch with any opposition MLAs. And finally he has come up with this blatant lie that 10 Congress MLAs had offered to merge in the BJP," Chodankar said.

"The BJP cannot rule without lying. It cannot run a party without lying. Lying has become their speciality. They want to win elections on the basis of lying. Vinay has confused himself with all the lies he has uttered," the state Congress President said.

In the last two years, five MLAs, three from the Congress and two from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, a regional political outfit which is a part of the BJP-led coalition government, have joined the BJP.