A senior Congress leader said that the opposition Congress has shifted five of its MLAs to an undisclosed location ahead of the Goa Assembly session beginning on Monday. According to Goa Congress President Amit Patkar, the party will also announce the name of its new Leader of Opposition before the assembly session begins.
Till Monday morning, out of the total 11 Congress MLAs in the 40-member Goa Assembly, five were with the party, while five others were inaccessible. Another legislator, Alexo Sequeira, was at home and promised his support to the party.
A senior Congress leader confirmed that he has shifted five MLAs who were with the party to an undisclosed location to avoid further ‘split’ in the organisation. “These MLAs will reach the assembly premises to take part in the session. The state Congress faced an embarrassing situation on Sunday when five of its MLAs – Michael Lobo, Digambar Kamat, Kedar Naik, Rajesh Faldesai and Deliala Lobo – went incommunicado.
The Congress later removed Lobo from the post of Leader of Opposition in the Goa Assembly, the party’s state desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao announced late Sunday evening. “Lobo and Kamat were conspiring with the BJP to create a split in the Congress,” Rao alleged. Therefore, the party has decided to remove Lobo from the post of Leader of Opposition. He said that action would be taken against both Lobo and Kamat.
Rao had also said that if five legislators cross sides, they will face re-election as the group enjoys a two-thirds majority of the party’s legislative wing (to avoid action under the anti-defection law). Not there. While none of the five ‘rebel’ MLAs were available for comment, BJP sources claimed that the MLAs were in touch with them.
Goa Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Pramod Sawant told reporters on Sunday that he would not like to comment on the developments of the other party (Congress). Asked if any Congress MLA has come to meet him, Sawant said, “Many MLAs come to meet me, especially because the assembly is being convened from Monday.”
Taking a resolution to remove Lobo from the post of Leader of Opposition, Congress held a meeting of its legislature party on Sunday night. Patkar had said that the name of the new Leader of Opposition would be announced before the session begins on Monday. Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday asked senior party leader Mukul Wasnik to visit Goa to “monitor the latest political developments” in the state.
The ruling BJP in Goa has 20 MLAs, and the Pramod Sawant government also has the support of five other MLAs – two from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and three independents. In the assembly elections held in February this year, the Congress had won 11 seats. Goa Forward Party (GFP) and Revolutionary Goa Party (RGP) won one seat each, while Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) got two seats.
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