New Delhi: The Congress in Goa on Tuesday filed disqualification petitions against “rebel leaders” Digambar Kamat and Michael Lobo, even as the legislators claimed they were still with the party.
The Congress accused former chief minister Kamat and former opposition leader Lobo of “conspiracy” with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to weaken the Congress, as five of the 11 Congress MLAs led by the two joined the party on Sunday. did not attend the meeting.
In the preliminary hearing of the disqualification petition before the Speaker on Tuesday, the Congress argued that Kamat and Lobo had voluntarily renounced party membership by their actions and deserved to be disqualified.
“We have said that by his conduct he has voluntarily given up the membership of his party and hence it is a disqualification (petition). We have requested that notice be issued to the other party and proceeding with the proceedings,” advocate Abhijit Gosavi, representing the Congress, told reporters.
“We have said that by his conduct he has voluntarily given up the membership of political parties. We say this because there are several Supreme Court judgments that say what it means to voluntarily quit. Voluntarily giving up membership does not only mean that he has resigned, it also means that he has demonstrated by his conduct that he has given up the membership of his political party, which in the sense of voluntarily giving up membership also comes.
The Congress cited a case in Karnataka where members of a political party were disqualified by the Speaker of the Assembly after they refused to attend a legislature party meeting, which was upheld by the Supreme Court.
“In this case, the Congress President had called a meeting of the CLP (Congress Legislature Party). He did not join the CLP. There is one such case in Karnataka when their members called for CLP and their members did not join, Speaker disqualified them. The matter went up to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court upheld the Speaker’s order, saying that if it was the conduct of the member, he faced disqualification. We have shown that decision to the Speaker and shown him that it clearly precedes on similar facts,” said advocate Gosavi.
Kamat, Lobo, his wife Delilah and two other MLAs did not report at the Congress headquarters on Sunday night even though the party had called them for a briefing.
After an effort to reach them and secure their presence, the Congress leadership led by Dinesh Gundu Rao, desk in-charge of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), announced that Kamat and Lobo were in collusion with the BJP and that action would be taken against them. Will.
Both Lobo and Kamat later denied that they wanted to break away from the party.
Lobo and three other ‘rebel’ MLAs reached the Congress headquarters on Monday night for a meeting, which was also attended by Congress Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Wasnik. Lobo reiterated that he was “strongly with Congress”. Kamat, who claimed he was a “retired injury”, did not attend the meeting.
