Eight Congress MLAs from Goa joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday, in a huge setback to the party which saw a similar move in 2019. “We have joined to strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji,” said an MLA after joining the saffron party.
In the 40-member Goa Assembly, the Congress previously had 11 legislators and the BJP had 20. In July 2019, 10 Congress MLAs had switched over to the BJP.
The eight legislators were seen in a meeting with Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday, in visuals accessed by CNN-News18. Sources said a Congress legislature meeting took place earlier in the day, where eight out of the total 11 Congress MLAs passed a resolution to merge the Goa INC party into the BJP.
The legislators who have joined BJP are:
-Digambar Kamat
-Michael Lobo
-Delilah Lobo
-Rajesh Phaldesai
-Kedar Naik
-Sankalp Amonkar
-Aleixo Sequeira
-Rudolf Fernandes
There were reports in July that at least six Congress MLAs, including top leaders Digambar Kamat and Michael Lobo, were planning to join the BJP. The Congress then requested that Kamat and Lobo be disqualified under the anti-defection law.
At the time, the Congress managed to retain at least seven of its MLAs, while the others made no final move. Kedar Naik and Delilah Lobo, Lobo’s wife, were among the four who did not attend a key party meeting at the time, in addition to Lobo and Kamat. Michael Lobo was removed as Leader of the Opposition by the Congress. He switched from the BJP to the Congress party just before the elections this year.
Meanwhile, the Goa Congress Legislature Party on Wednesday passed a resolution to merge into the Bharatiya Janata Party, soon after BJP state president Sadanand Shet Tanavade said eight Congress MLAs will join the ruling party.
Leader of Opposition Michael Lobo moved the resolution in the presence of seven other MLAs. The resolution was seconded by former chief minister and MLA Digambar Kamat, sources said. After the resolution was passed, a picture of the eight MLAs meeting Chief Minister Pramod Sawant surfaced on social media.
In the picture, MLAs Michael Lobo along with Digambar Kamat, Delilah Lobo, Rajesh Phaldesai, Kedar Naik, Sankalp Amonkar, Aleixo Sequeira and Rudolf Fernandes were seen interacting with the chief minister.
