Panaji, May 21 (IANS) Coming down heavily on former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, senior Goa Congress leader Girish Chodankar on Tuesday held the former responsible for the 'annihilation' of the grand old party in the coastal state.

Chodankar, who is the Congress special observer for the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat in Punjab, told mediapersons at the Dabolim airport that Kamat never allowed them to grow the party in Goa.

“Digambar Kamat annihilated the prospects of the Congress. He joined the Congress in 2005 and was made the Chief Minister in 2007. There were no charges of corruption against our Chief Ministers in the past, but after Diagambar Kamat took charge, charges were levelled against him and our government. This halted the growth of our party,” Chodankar claimed.

Ever since Kamat along with seven other Congress MLAs joined the BJP on September 14, 2022, the Congress has held him responsible for anti-party activities.

“Since he (Kamat) joined the Congress, he tried to weaken our organisation. Subhash Shirodkar was the party President then, but Kamat didn’t allow him to strengthen the party organisation. Even after I became the President, he used the same strategy of imposing his decisions on the party,” Chodankar said.

Subhash Shirodkar joined the BJP in 2018 and presently he is a minister in the Pramod Sawant-led state government.

“Kamat got support from Delhi only because he was a senior leader. He didn’t focus on strengthening the party. He betrayed us by hobnobbing with the BJP. He was in touch with the BJP leaders even when he was the Chief Minister. This proves that he is a ‘gaddar’ (traitor),” Chodankar alleged.

He also held Kamat responsible for the failure to form the government in Goa in 2017 despite the Congress having 17 MLAs.

“He was keen to become the Chief Minister again and hence we lost the opportunity to form a government. He was made the CLP leader. Even then he never spoke against the BJP government and also restrained us from attacking the ruling party,” Chodankar said.

The Congress has been reduced to a mere three MLAs in the 40-member Goa Assembly after Kamat and seven other MLAs joined the BJP in 2022.