Goa Congress accuses BJP of trying to split the party

Panaji: The Congress in Goa appears to be on the brink of a costly split after the state leadership accused two senior leaders of engineering defections from the party.

AICC Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao reportedly said Micheal Lobo and Digambar Kamat were 'hobnobbing' with ruling BJP hatching a conspiracy for splitting the party.

Gundu Rao reported of removing Micheal Lobo from the position of the leader of the Congress legislature party.

Actions for anti-party activities would follow him, Kamat and three other MLAs, according to the Indian Express.

Rao on Sunday evening said the two congress leaders were planning to weaken the Congress as well as engineering a split in the party.

Rao accused the BJP of trying to take away at least eight of its 11 MLAs in order to dodge the anti-defection law.

He claimed that as of Sunday evening six lawmakers were with the Congress, nevertheless they were offered huge amounts of money.

Gundu Rao was to hold a press conference with Micheal Lobo on Sunday when the high drama began.

When the press meet was to start at 6.45 pm, Rao was left with only two MLAs; however, the number began to go up by 8 pm reaching five.

The leaders who failed to turn up at the press meet include Kamat, Lobo and his wife Delilah, lawmakers Kedar Naik and Rajesh Faldessai, according to The Indian Express.

It further reported that Lobo and Delilah were both seen leaving Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's residence.

Lobo, who was a minister with the BJP administration, crossed over to Congress just ahead of the elections.

Another defection five years ago saw 10 of Congress 15 MLAs moving to the BJP.

During the last polls, the Congress made its 37 candidates to take a 'pledge of loyalty' in a temple, church or dargah alongside having them signed affidavits declaring loyalty.

The BJP has 20 MLAs in the MLAs in the 40-member Assembly, the Congress 11, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and the Aam Aadmi Party two members each, the Goa Forward Party and the Revolutionary Goans Party have a member each, according to the report.

Congress general secretary in Charge of organization K C Venugopal tweeted late night that Congress president asked Mukul Wasnik MP to rush to Goa to oversee political developments in the state,