Goa’s former CM may join Ajit Pawar group soon

Alemao met Rajya Sabha MP and Ajit group’s national working president Praful Patel in Mumbai on Friday after resigning from the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

“Politics is not the only thing that we discuss,”Churchill Alemao told The Indian Express. (Twitter/@ChurchillAlemao)

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Goa’s former Chief Minister Churchill Alemao is likely to join the NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Alemao met Rajya Sabha MP and Ajit group’s national working president Praful Patel in Mumbai on Friday after resigning from the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

“Yes, I met him. But should every visit be political? He is not only a Rajya Sabha MP but also my good friend and we share personal relations. He has done so many things for football in this country and when I met him, we had a discussion on football as well,” Alemao told The Indian Express. Alemao was also the president of Goa Football Association.

When asked if he would be making a political move soon towards the NCP, which was his party before he joined the TMC, Alemao said that he has not decided anything as of now. “Politics is not the only thing that we discuss,” he said.

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Alemao had joined the TMC ahead of last year’s Assembly elections in Goa. A former chief minister, a former MP, a former MLA, a former state minister, he was the lone NCP MLA in Goa Assembly when he switched to the TMC. He had then claimed that the entire Goa NCP was merged with the TMC. He was also with Congress before he joined the NCP.

When asked if he would be meeting Ajit Pawar soon, Alemao said that he has cordial relations with all politicians. “Be it Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar or Praful Patel. I am ready to meet anyone and whoever calls me,” he said.

Clyde Crasto, Sharad Pawar affiliated NCP’s spokesperson as well as in-charge of Goa, said that the party has not accepted Alemao. “Churchill Alemao will not be joining the NCP. Goa NCP will be led by President Jose Phillip D’souza under the leadership and guidance of NCP National President Sharad Pawar,” Crasto told The Indian Express. Patel could not be reached for comment.

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