Michael Lobo, who was removed by Congress as Goa Leader of Opposition for conspiring with the BJP to engineer defection in the party, on Monday denied any “hobnobbing” with the ruling BJP and asserted that he is still with the grand old party and mere not attending a press conference cannot be a ground for disqualification. Meanwhile, Goa Congress president Amit Patkar hs said that 7 MLAs are currently with the party, and the new LoP will be announced soon.
Amid claims and counterclaims over the spilt in the Goa Congress, Lobo said, “No, there is no hobnobbing (with BJP). I think somebody wants to become a leader of the opposition and that’s why they are doing it.”
“This (meeting with Mukul Wasnik) was not a CLP meeting. The senior Rajya Sabha member of Congress had come here to discuss the happenings in the state. I have told him that we are with the Congress party,” he added. “Not attending a press conference cannot be a ground for disqualification,” said Lobo. He was removed by Congress as Goa LoP on Sunday on the accusation of conspiring with the BJP on the disqualification petition against him.
The Congress appears to have dodged a possible revolt in Goa, but possible defectors are in touch with the state’s ruling BJP, as per sources. It seems like BJP is still trying. For the BJP’s plan to succeed, at least 8 of the 11 Congress MLAs are required to switch and former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat is supposedly in touch with the BJP to make it happen.
Congress sources have claimed that BJP had even arranged a chartered flight to move 6 of its MLAs out of Goa. As per reports, a top BJP leader was in touch with the MLAs, who were offered around Rs 15 crores to Rs 20 crores each to switch. However, the number of MLAs fell short at that time so the party could not go ahead with its plan.