Goa Congress manages to avert split for now; 10 MLAs attend party meet

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

Ten out of the total 11 Congress MLAs in Goa attended a meeting chaired by senior leader Mukul Wasnik in Panaji as the party managed to avert a split in its fold for the time being.

Except for former chief minister Digambar Kamat, all the other Congress MLAs, including Michael Lobo, were on Monday night present in the meeting which went on for over two hours at the State party headquarters.

Congress Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao and State party president Amit Patkar were also present during the meeting.

Mr. Wasnik claimed some people with “bad intentions” were trying to create a rift in the Goa Congress, but the legislators scuttled it by showing they are united.

Also read: Situation under control in Goa, says Congress

He said during the meeting, discussions were held with the MLAs on how to work aggressively in the House and strengthen the party in the coastal State.

On Sunday, five Congress MLAs, including Mr. Kamat and Mr. Lobo, went incommunicado. They, however, attended the Goa Assembly proceedings on the first day of its monsoon session on Monday and claimed there was nothing wrong and that they were with the party.