Goa Congress' former working president joins Trinamool Congress

Goa Congress' former working president Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco joined the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Kolkata on Tuesday, ahead of the Goa Assembly polls due early next year.

On Monday, Lourenco resigned as a member of the Goa Legislative Assembly as well as from the Congress, before heading to Kolkata.

TMC's official handle on Tuesday tweeted, Today, former @INCIndia Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco joined us in the presence of our Chairperson @MamataOfficial and our National General Secretary @abhishekhaitc. We extend a very warm welcome to him! Together, we shall work for the betterment of all Goans.

Lourenco, a two-term MLA from Curtorim Assembly seat, was recently elevated as the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee's working president.

After his resignation, the Congress' strength in the 40-member Goa Assembly has been reduced to two.

The Assembly elections in Goa, currently ruled by the BJP, are due in February 2022.

The TMC has announced that it will contest the Assembly polls in the coastal state.