New Delhi: The AAP on Saturday claimed it has learnt from "reliable sources" that the BJP is set to replace Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant ahead of next year's assembly polls as people are unhappy with the performance of the state government under his leadership.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia claimed that the BJP has decided to appoint a new chief minister because it has understood that it would be difficult for it to go to polls in the state under Sawant's leadership.
People of Goa are unhappy with the state government under Sawant's leadership as his dispensation failed to deliver on various fronts during its term, Sisodia said.
"We have learnt from very reliable sources that the BJP is going to replace Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant just two-three months ahead of the elections in the state," Sisodia told reporters.
"The BJP has decided to remove Sawant and appoint a new chief minister as it has understood that it will be very difficult for the party to join the fray under his leadership because he did not work during his term. People are very unhappy with the Pramod Sawant government," he claimed. The AAP leader asserted that his party will emerge victorious in the upcoming assembly polls in Goa even after appointment of a new chief minister by the BJP.
"Just by changing the face, people will not be deceived. By replacing the current chief minister with someone else, mood of the people will not be changed. People will give their mandate to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the upcoming Assembly elections," he said.
Sisodia listed various failures of the BJP government under chief minister Pramod Sawant and alleged that it was "sitting idle" when the number of Covid positive cases were increasing in the state.
"As a result, the infection rate reached 50 per cent, highest in the country. Goa panchayats had to impose lockdown to prevent spread of COVID-19," he charged.
Meanwhile, the BJP has rubbished Sisodia's claim that the saffron party is going to replace Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant ahead of the next year's Assembly polls.
Goa BJP unit president Sadanand Shet Tanavade ruled out any change of leadership. There is no proposal of leadership change. The meeting which was held on Friday discussed the election strategy for upcoming Goa elections, he said referring to the meeting between himself, CM Sawant and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi.