Sources claim that 7 to 10 Congress MLAs have gathered at a hotel in Margao in the state of Goa and vowed to remain united amid concerns of another split in the Goa Congress. There are now 11 Congress-affiliated MLAs in the Goa legislature, and it has been reported that some of them may switch to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Since BJP national general secretary and state in-charge C T Ravi said in May that the BJP, which has 20 MLAs and formed the government with the assistance of five others, will have 30 MLAs by the end of the year, there have been talks that certain Congress MLAs are considering joining the BJP.
The Congress has denied that there is a schism inside the party, with Goa unit president Amit Patkar asserting that the BJP, which is in power, created these rumours ahead of the assembly’s two-week Budget Session. On Saturday, Congress leaders, including Dinesh Gundu Rao, the head of the Goa desk, called the claim “totally a rumour.” Additionally, they said that the gathering of the party’s MLAs on Saturday at the hotel had nothing to do with the rumour and was instead planned in advance ahead of the Assembly’s monsoon session, which begins on Monday.
Congress MLA Aleixo Sequeira, while speaking to news agency ANI said, “Seven MLAs are there (at the meeting). I was not called by high command, only here for a courtesy meeting. Rumours (about MLAs leaving for BJP) are all over, what is to be done. I can vouch for myself, can’t say for anyone else.”
Margao, Goa | Congress MLA meeting underway in a hotel
— ANI (@ANI) July 10, 2022
7 MLAs there. I was not called by high command, only here for courtesy meet. Rumours (about MLAs leaving for BJP) are all over, what is to be done. I can vouch for myself, can’t say for anyone else: Cong MLA Aleixo Sequeira pic.twitter.com/xq9mrzXivu
The meeting on Saturday reportedly wasn’t attended by Digambar Kamat, the party’s candidate for the position of chief minister in the elections earlier this year. According to some reports, Mr Michael Lobo, who switched sides from the BJP to the Congress just before the elections, is in touch with the BJP.
In Goa’s 40-member house, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is led by the BJP, has the support of 25 MLAs, while the Congress has 11 MLAs.
