In yet another setback for the grand old party, it is speculated that 9 out of its 11 legislators will soon join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Amit Patkar the chief of Goa Congress denied all reports and said all these are rumours spread by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Congress MLAs of Goa are expected to backstep the grand old party and join BJP according to sources. Congress currently has 11 MLAs in the Goa assembly and it is said that 9 out of those 11 might switch over to the ruling party.
But the All India Pradesh Congress Committee (AICC) of Goa denied the reports and said it is a rumour spread by the BJP.
Speculations regarding Congress MLAs joining BJP have been in news for a long time, especially after BJP national general secretary and Goa BJP in charge CT Ravi, hinted in May that 20 members of BJP in the assembly will become 30 by the end of the year.
The Congress leaders whose names are making rounds about joining the saffron party are former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, leader of opposition Michael Lobo and many other senior leaders.
“ We may join BJP anytime and we are waiting for a call from the BJP’s central leadership. No promises have been made for any particular positions or cabinet berth,” an MLA from Congress said on the condition of anonymity.
Though both Kamat and Lobo denied that they are planning to join BJP, it is said that the BJP is planning to move Congress leaders on masses to the ruling party to avoid disqualification.
In the 40-member Assembly of Goa, Congress has 11 MLAs, while the saffron party has 20 and it has the support of 2 MGP members and 3 independents.
This is not the 1st time that Congress MLAs are changing sides in Goa, in 2019 the then opposition leader Chandrakant ‘Babu’ Kavaleakr took 9 Congress MLAs with him to join the ruling BJP.
Before the 2022 Goa Assembly elections, Congress took its legislators to a temple and a church and made them take an oath that they would not switch sides after they were elected back to the Assembly.
Mukul Wasnik rushed to Goa Congress:
Amid defections in Congress, Sonia Gandhi the AICC President has sent senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Wasnik to the Western coastal state to oversee the latest political development after 5 MLAs in the state went disconnected.
The Congress party has raised its fingers at Michale Lobo LOP and former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat for conspiring against the party by joining hands with the BJP. Lobo has also been removed as the Leader of the Opposition.
Congress party’s Goa in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao in New Delhi announced before the media that Lobo has been removed as the leader of opposition.
