While Congress scion Rahul Gandhi is on a Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Goa Congress has been fragmented and left limited to 3 MLAs. Eight of the Congress’ eleven MLAs in Goa, including Michael Lobo and former Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, are about to join BJP.

Congress now only has three MLAs in the state after eight MLAs shifted to the ruling party in the state. Out of the 25 MLAs in the NDA, 20 are in the BJP, and that number is expected to rise. Reports of Congress legislators defecting came at a time when Congressman Rahul Gandhi was on his “Bharat Jodo Yatra,” a journey to “jodo” India. The eight “rebels” also met with Pramod Sawant, the chief minister of Goa.

According to reports, Lobo decided to combine with the BJP after a significant meeting with the Congress Legislative Party. Delilah Lobo, Rajesh Phaldesai, Kedar Naik, Sankalp Amonkar, Aleixo Sequeira, and Rudolf Fernandes are other leaders who have joined the BJP. After rumors of Michael Lobo leaving the party to join the Bharatiya Janata Party surfaced in July of this year, the Congress party promptly withdrew him from his post as leader of the opposition in the Goa state legislative assembly.

Notably, those who ran for office on the Congress ticket in January 2022 took an oath before the gods to uphold party loyalty.

Interestingly, Goa Congress leaders had joined the BJP before after leaving the party. 10 Congress MLAs switched to the BJP in July 2019. As a result, the Goa Forward Party was eliminated from the coalition because the BJP had emerged as the single-largest party. Currently, the Goa Forward Party only has one assembly member who is a member of the UPA-affiliated opposition.

 

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