Goa's former Tourism Minister and controversial Nationalist Congress Party leader Fransisco 'Miccky' Pacheco on Friday resigned as a member of the legislative assembly, two months ahead of the State elections.
The group, led by Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar, met Assembly Speaker Rajesh Patnekar in the evening and gave him a letter, informing him about their breaking away from the party.
In the 2017 state assembly polls, the Congress had emerged as the single largest party by winning 17 seats.
The Goa bench of the Bombay high court on Thursday upheld the Goa assembly speaker's order dismissing two petitions seeking the disqualification of 12 MLAs who left their respective parties and joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019.
The lowest victory margin of 76 was recorded in St Andre constituency in North Goa, where Revolutionary Goans Party, a new political outfit in the state, made its debut by defeating BJP candidate and sitting MLA Francis Silveira. RGP candidate Viresh Borkar won the contest.
Besides 11 members from BJP, three each from the Goa Forward Party, the MGP and independents supported Sawant during the head count conducted in the House.
In the last two-and-a half years, the Congress has lost 13 of its MLAs to the BJP which now enjoys an overwhelming majority in the assembly.
'They just want to show that the Congress is in disarray.'
Former chief minister of Goa and Congress veteran Luizinho Faleiro, resigned as an MLA and a primary member of the party on Monday claiming the state party unit is run by a 'coterie' of leaders even as he praised Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee saying the country needs a leader like her to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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