Goa speaker dismisses Congress' disqualification plea against MLAs Kamat and Lobo

Panaji: Goa assembly speaker Ramesh Tawadkar on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by the Congress seeking disqualification of MLAs Digambar Kamat and Michael Lobo, who quit the grand old party and joined the BJP in 2022.

Talking to PTI, Tawadkar confirmed that the disqualification petition filed by Goa Congress president Amit Patkar against former chief minister Kamat and Lobo has been dismissed.

A detailed order mentioning reasons for the dismissal of the petition would be issued later in the day, he said.

Patkar filed the disqualification petition against Kamat and Lobo in July 2022, accusing them of conspiring to split the opposition party and voluntarily giving up its membership.

Both the MLAs were part of the Congress when the petition was filed.

In September 2022, Kamat and Lobo, who was then leader of opposition in the assembly, joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with six other legislators.