Goa: Disqualification petitions against Congress MLAs Lobo, Kamat admitted, says Speaker

PANAJI: The disqualification petitions filed by the Congress against two of its MLAs has been admitted, Goa Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar said on Tuesday.

The Congress leadership in the coastal state had alleged that its MLAs Michael Lobo and Digambar Kamat were trying to split the party in connivance with the ruling BJP.

The Congress had announced it was removing Lobo as Leader of Opposition, while Kamat was absent from a meeting of the party held on Monday night.

Speaking to reporters on the second day of the monsoon session of the state Assembly, Tawadkar said, "I have received two disqualification petitions filed by the Congress party against Leader of Opposition Michael Lobo and Congress MLA Digambar Kamat."

"Goa Congress president Amit Patkar filed the disqualification petitions on Monday. However, since I was not available yesterday, I met the petitioner today. The petitions will be taken up for consideration after the current Assembly session gets over," he added.

Tawadkar said Lobo continued to be LoP as of now because the Congress Legislative Party was yet to inform him about who it wished to name for the post.

Lobo and Kamat have been accused of anti-party activities by Congress' Goa desk in charge Dinesh Gundu Rao and state unit chief Amit Patkar.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday said the BJP has nothing to do with the "rebellion" in the state Congress Legislature Party.

On Sunday, five of the total 11 Congress MLAs in Goa went incommunicado, fuelling speculations about a split in the party.

But, they attended the monsoon session of the state Assembly which began on Monday and claimed there was "nothing wrong" in the opposition party.

Ten of the Congress MLAs also attended a meeting chaired by senior party leader Mukul Wasnik in Panaji on Monday night.

Some reporters outside the Assembly complex on Tuesday asked CM and senior BJP leader Sawant about developments in the state Congress.

"Let me reiterate that the BJP has nothing to do with the rebellion in the Congress Legislature Party," Sawant said before walking away without answering any further questions.

After the five Congress MLAs -- Michael Lobo, Digambar Kamat, Kedar Naik, Rajesh Faldesai and Delialah Lobo -- went incommunicado on Sunday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had asked Wasnik to rush to Goa.

The Congress had accused Lobo and former chief minister Kamat of "conspiring and hobnobbing" with the ruling BJP to engineer a split in the grand old party's legislative wing.

The party also removed Lobo from the post of leader of opposition in the 40-member state Assembly.