Goa speaker dismisses disqualification petition against 8 Cong MLAs who joined BJP

Goa assembly speaker Ramesh Tawadkar on Friday dismissed the disqualification petition filed by the Congress against eight of its MLAs who defected to the ruling BJP in 2022. The disqualification petition was filed by former Goa Congress chief Girish Chodankar against MLAs Digambar Kamat, Aleixo Sequeira, Sankalp Amonkar, Michael Lobo, Delilah Lobo, Kedar Naik, Rudolf Fernandes and Rajesh Faldesai.

The eight MLAs joined the BJP on September 14, 2022, taking the ruling party's strength in the 40-member assembly to 28. Chodankar, in his petition, had sought that the speaker disqualify these eight MLAs under Para 2 of the 10th Schedule read with Article 191 of the Constitution on the ground that they had voluntarily given up the membership of the original party (Congress) on the tickets of which they had contested for the 8th Goa legislative assembly and had won.

"It is undisputed fact that respondents were duly elected as the members of Indian National Congress for the present assembly and are now affiliated to the Bharatiya Janata Party," Chodankar said in the petition filed through advocate Abhijit Gosavi. The petition contended there was no valid merger in this case as the twin requirement of merger of political party to be agreed by two-third of members of the legislature party was not satisfied.

"Para 4 of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution does not contemplate merger of the political party to the legislature party. Such a merger is contrary to the object of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution. In the present case, there is no dispute that the original political party (Congress) has not merged," he said in the plea. Advocate Parag Rao, representing the eight MLAs, however, said the speaker, through a communication on September 14, 2022, has recorded that the eight MLAs passed a resolution to merge the Congress legislature party with the BJP.

Rao further said the BJP, by conduct, has accepted this merger since it has made some of these MLAs ministers in the state government. Dismissing the disqualification petition, speaker Tawadkar ruled a member of the assembly shall not be disqualified where his original political party merges with another political party.

"In simple words, upon the merger of the original political party of the elected member with another political party, the elected member will not face disqualification in either contingency i.e whether he chooses to go with the merger or disagrees with the same," the speaker ruled. The speaker said disqualification on ground of defection does not apply in case of merger.