Was difficult to leave Congress, joined TMC in the interest of Goa, India to fight BJP: Luizinho Faleiro

Panaji (Goa) [India], September 30 (ANI): Newly inducted Trinamool Congress leader Luizinho Faleiro on Thursday said that it was difficult for him to quit Congress but he joined the TMC in the interest of Goa and the country to defeat Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"It was difficult for me to leave Congress, but finally in the interest of Goa, country and to defeat BJP, I joined TMC," he said at a press conference here today.

Faleiro, who has previously served as the chief minister of Goa, joined TMC on Wednesday in Kolkata.

The former Goa chief minister clarified that he did not meet TMC leaders, instead, he met election analyst Prashant Kishor, who heads the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) and its leaders.

"I did not meet TMC leaders. I met I-PAC, I met Prashant Kishor from I-PAC just before I took the decision and had interaction with him," said the TMC leader.

After he tendered his resignation from Congress, Faleiro in a press conference asserted the need to unify the different factions of the Congress party spread across the country to fight the BJP at the Centre and state level.

"Our enemy is BJP," the veteran leader had said.

Faleiro is the second leader from Congress outside West Bengal to join TMC. He was recently appointed as the Chairman of the Election Coordination Committee for Goa Assembly polls and was All India Congress Committee (AICC) in charge of North-Eastern states.

Earlier, former Congress MP from Assam's Silchar and ex-president of All India Mahila Congress, Sushmita Dev had joined the TMC in August this year. She has been assigned to look after TMC's affairs in Tripura.

A month later Sushmita Dev was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal. (ANI)