It also includes the former Chief Minister of Goa. Digambar Kamatiwho led the party’s campaign in state elections earlier this year, and current LOP Michael Lobo.
The others are Delilah Lobo, Rajesh Faldesai, Kedar Naik, Sankalp Amonkar, Alexo Sequeira and Rudolph Fernandes.
Lobo held an important meeting of the Congress Legislature Party on Wednesday morning and resolved to merge the Congress Legislature Party with the BJP. Later the MLAs handed over the letter of merger to the Secretary (Legislature).
Michael Lobo, Digambar Kamat and others at Congress Legislature Party meeting on Wednesday morning
The switch left the Congress with just 3 MLAs, and the opposition bench ended up with only 7 members.
On the other hand the rank of BJP has increased to 28 from the current 20.
Goa CM Pramod Sawant took a dig at Rahul Gandhi’s “Bharat Jodi Yatra”, saying, “Congress choho (Quit Congress) journey will start now.”
However, the development received a sharp response from the opposition Goa Forward Party.
“The eight legislators who, against all political propriety, basic decency and honesty, have decided to pursue their greed for wealth and power-hungry, today stand as symbols of pure evil, their brazen selfishness, covetousness and hypocrisy. While demonstrating, in defiance of God Almighty,” said party president Vijay Sardesai.
the previous one Goa Legislative Assembly There was also widespread defection, with 67% of legislators switching sides, several weeks leading up to the 2022 state elections.
In the last assembly, 27 MLAs switched sides in the 40-member House, in which the Congress suffered the most – 16 of its 17 MLAs left the party.
In 2019 itself, ten Congress MLAs joined the BJP, including the then Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar. The other three joined the Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee.
Two MLAs from MGP and one from GFP also joined the saffron party.
The BJP too saw defection from its ranks, with 4 MLAs joining different parties ahead of the elections in February 2022.