Goa Cong mulling disqualification petition Vs 10 rebels

The Goa Congress is exploring the possibility of filing a disqualification petition against the 10 MLAs who quit the party earlier this month, to join the BJP.

At a meeting of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee in Panaji on Wednesday, several office-bearers threatened to quit the party en masse, if any of the defectors are taken back into the party wing, Congress spokesperson Trajano D’Mello also said.

“After much of deliberations on the matter of defection by the 10 party MLAs, the meeting decided that stringent possible action be taken against them. All possible avenues will be explored, including a disqualification petition to be filed before the High Court,” D’Mello said, adding that a resolution was also passed to the effect.

Ten out of the 15 Congress MLAs split the Goa Congress legislative on July 10 and merged their breakaway unit into the BJP. The leader of the breakaway group Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar was subsequently appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister, while another rebel Jennifer Monserrate was given a cabinet berth.

Stung by the development, some of the Congress’s state committee office-bearers have now decided to threaten the party leadership that they would resign en masse if the defectors are taken back into the party fold.

“Some of the office-bearers said that that if for any reason the defectors are taken back in the party..they would resign en masse,” D’Mello also said.