NEW DELHI: Amid speculation of another split in the Goa Congress legislature party, around 7-10 Congress MLAs have gathered in a hotel in Margao and said that they remain united. The Congress has 11 MLAs in the 40-member Goa Assembly.
There are rumours that around 7-8 Congress MLAs may cross over to the ruling BJP as they skipped a crucial party meeting on Sunday.

Goa state in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao met the MLAs at the hotel and discussed the issues and the floor management strategy for the assembly session that starts on Monday. Some media reports said that Margao Congress MLA Digambar Kamat — the party’s chief ministerial nominee in the elections held earlier this year — was not present at the hotel.
There has been speculation that Kamat, and leader of opposition Michael Lobo are considering leaving the Congress to join the BJP. Both leaders have, however, denied the reports. “These are all rumours. There’s nothing as such. Assembly (session) is starting and rumour has to be spread by somebody or the other,” said Lobo, who has been reportedly under pressure from the government over irregularities that occurred when he was a BJP MLA.
Goa Congress chief Amit Patkar also refuted talk of some of his MLAs planning to join the BJP, adding that such rumours were being spread by the ruling party.

Meanwhile, Goa Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar on Sunday cancelled the notification for election to the post of deputy speaker, which was scheduled for July 12.
Not the first time
This is not the first time that Congress MLAs in Goa have moved en masse to the BJP. In July 2019, the then leader of opposition Chandrakant ‘Babu’ Kavalekar along with nine Congress MLAs had joined the BJP. The BJP currently has 20 MLAs and is supported by 2 MGP members and three Independents.
Before the 2022 elections, Congress had made its MLAs take a vow before both the Church and a temple that they would not ditch the party and move to the BJP after they were elected.
(with inputs from agencies)