8 Goa Congress MLAs are set to join the BJP and have reached the Goa Legislative Assembly to apparently submit their resignations
8 Goa Congress MLAs are set to join the BJP and have reached the Goa Legislative Assembly to apparently submit their resignations
Eight Congress MLAs from Goa are set to join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, according to State BJP chief Sadanand Shet Tanavade, sources said.
In the 40-member Goa Assembly, the Congress has 11 legislators and the BJP has 20. In a similar move in July 2019, 10 Congress MLAs had switched over to the BJP.
MLAs reach Goa Legislative Assembly
According to sources, the MLAs, who include Digambar Kamat, Michael Lobo, his wife Delilah Lobo, Rajesh Phaldesai, Kedar Naik, Sankalp Amonkar, Aleixo Sequeira and Rudolf Fernandes are set to join the BJP and have reached the Goa Legislative Assembly to apparently submit their resignations. All eight Congress MLAs meet Goa CM Pramod Sawant in the latter’s chamber.
In July this year, rumours of a split within the Congress were imminent after Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao said that a major split within the party was being engineered by its senior leaders Michael Lobo and former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat in co-ordination with the ruling BJP.
Congress candidates took ‘loyalty pledge’
Ahead of the Goa Assembly polls in February this year, the Congress leadership, smarting from the defection of several of its MLAs to the BJP in 2019, had made all Congress candidates take a ‘loyalty pledge’ with party leader Rahul Gandhi.
All 37 Congress candidates had taken a pledge at a temple, a dargah and a church, vowing not to defect to other parties in the event they won the elections. That pledge today is coming a cropper as the eight Congress MLAs are completing formalities with the Speaker and are set to join the BJP.
(With inputs from PTI)
