Cong to move disqualification petition against 10 ex-members

The Congress will file on Thursday a petition before the Speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly, seeking disqualification of 10 of its former MLAs, who joined the BJP last month, a senior party leader said on Wednesday.

Talking to PTI, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Girish Chodankar said the petition would be filed before Goa Assembly Speaker Rajesh Patnekar.

"The petition would be filed under the Tenth Schedule of the Indian Constitution as they (legislators) have violated the anti-defection law," he claimed.

Ten Congress MLAs, led by the then Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar, had joined the BJP around a month back. After that, Congress's strength in the Assembly came down to five from 15, while the number of BJP MLAs grew from 17 to 27, giving the BJP majority in the 40-member House.

Besides Kavlekar, Atanasio Monserratte, Jeniffer Monserratte, Isidore Fernanders, Francis Silveira, Clafacio Dias, Wilfred de Sa, Nilkant Halarnkar, Filipe Neri Rodrigues and Antonio Fernandes had joined the BJP.