Goa Congress immediately removes Michael Lobo as Leader of Opposition amid talks of defections

Panaji: Goa Congress on Sunday removed Michael Lobo from the post of Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly for conspiring to engineer a defection in the party. Along with Lobo, former chief minister Digambar Kamat's name has also surfaced in weakening the party in the state, AICC Goa in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao said.

"A conspiracy was hatched by some of our own leaders with the BJP to see that the Congress party in Goa is weakened and to engineer defections. This conspiracy was led by two of our own leaders LoP Michael Lobo and Digambar Kamat," Rao told media on Sunday evening.

He further said that a new Leader of Opposition of Goa will be elected. "Whatever action has to be taken by law against this kind of defection, anti-party work will follow. Let's see how many people will stay/move," Congress Goa in-charge said.

"Both these people had been working in total coordination with BJP. One person - Digambar Kamat - did it to safeguard his own skin because so many cases are against him and the other person - Michael Lobo - for the sake of power and position. BJP wants to finish Opposition," alleged Rao.

The Goa Congress in-charge said that five MLAs were present with them and the party is in touch with some more MLAs. He further claimed that the other lawmakers will be along with the Congress/

"Congress party will not be disheartened or weakened. We will take up this issue in a more aggressive manner. We will take it to the people this betrayal that is being engineered by 2 people for the sake of power & personal gain," Rao said.

A report by NDTV mentioned its sources saying that five Congress MLAs - Michael Lobo, Delilah Lobo, Digambar Kamat, Kedar Naik, and Rajesh Faldessai - were reportedly at the Chief Minister's house.

Don't Miss: 'Rumours', say Goa Congress leaders, deny party MLAs joining BJP ahead of Assembly session

To ensure that anti-defection law doesn't come into play, eight MLAs (two-thirds of the total) need to leave the Goa Congress. In the 40-member Goa assembly, 25 MLAs are of the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and 11 are from the opposition Congress.

Sources to CNN-News18 had earlier in the day said that Goa Congress MLAs are expected to ditch the party and join BJP. However, Congress leaders, including its Dinesh Gundu Rao denied it, calling it “totally a rumour”.

With inputs from agencies

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