Panaji, March 17: Senior Congress leader Digambar Kamat has dismissed reports which claimed that he could be jumping ship to the BJP, if the latter agrees to replace him with Manohar Parrikar as the Goa Chief Minister. Reacting to the rumours, Kamat said joining BJP would be akin to committing "political suicide".

Kamat, who has earlier served as state's CM between 2007-12, had landed in Delhi earlier in the day. The visit was tied to the reports of him considering to switch sides to the BJP. After returning to Panaji in the evening, the former chief minister said such rumours are being spread by the BJP's dirty tricks department. Manohar Parrikar Health Update: ‘Goa CM Extremely Critical, Doctors Trying their Best’, Says CMO.

"I am with the Congress. My Delhi visit was purely on a personal purpose...I won't commit a political suicide by joining the BJP," he said.

Kamat, 65, was associated with the BJP till 2005. In that year, he resigned from the party and joined the Congress -- only to be awarded the chief ministerial post in 2007.

In 2012, however, the Parrikar-led BJP defeated Kamat's Congress government in the state.

The rumours of Kamat re-joining the BJP comes amid the deteriorating health condition of Manohar Parrikar. The Chief Minister's condition is stated to be "extremely critical" by the time this report was published.

Senior Goa BJP leaders, including Deputy Assembly Speaker Michael Lobo, have confirmed that Parrikar's health condition has deteriorated to a point of no recovery. The ailing CM has been reportedly suffering from pancreatic cancer since last year.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 17, 2019 07:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).