Second sitting BJP MLA Carlos Almeida resigns, likely to join TMC

Amid political shifts in poll-bound Goa, two-time BJP Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida resigned from the assembly and quit the BJP on Tuesday, December 21. He is expected to join the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Carlos Almeida has become the second BJP MLA after Alina Saldanha resigned and quit the BJP.

Earlier, there were reports that Almeida was upset with the party after BJP inducted a former independent candidate from Vasco and Almeida's rival Krishna Salkar into the party. In the 2017 Assembly elections, Salkar lost to Almeida in Vasco.

He had said that if things don't work as planned, he would be compelled to take some harsh decisions, referring to his decision to quit the BJP ahead of the 2022 Goa assembly elections.

With his resignation, the 40-member Goa legislative assembly now has 33 members.