Digvijaya Singh removed as Congress in-charge of Goa, Karnataka

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh was removed as the party's general secretary in-charge of the states of Goa and Karnataka on Saturday evening. This comes in the wake of the assembly elections held in February when the Congress party led by him failed to form the government despite winning the largest number of seats. A Chella Kumar has been appointed as the AICC in-charge in Goa and Amit Deshmukh as the secretary of the party in the state.

Singh had alleged that Manohar Parrikar, who eventually became the chief minister, had cheated the people of the state by robbing the mandate. He also said union minister Nitin Gadkari, who helped the BJP in forming the government, had indulged in 'aggressive MLA shopping' and rued the fact that the Congress did not form a pre-poll alliance with Goa Forward Party led by Vijay Sardesai which eventually sided with the BJP.

Parrikar, in return, sarcastically thanked Singh for allowing him to become the chief minister.

"My special thanks to honourable member Digvijaya Singh, who happened to be in Goa but did nothing so that I could form the government," Parrikar said in Rajya Sabha. In the Goa elections, the Congress bagged 17 seats followed by the BJP with 13 seats, neither parties past the half-way mark. The BJP eventually formed post-poll alliances with the MGP and GFP to form the government under Parrikar.

Meanwhile in Karnataka, which heads for elections next year, the Congress replaced Digvijaya Singh with KC Venugopal, a Lok Sabha MP from Kerala. In the recently-held by-elections in Nanjangud and Gundlupet, the Congress beat the BJP to bag both seats.