Another Goa Congress MLA resigns; party's strength in House down to 2

Panaji, Dec 20: In yet another jolt the Congress ahead of the Goa Assembly polls, the party's state working president, Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, resigned as Member of the Legislative Assembly on Monday, reducing the party's strength to two in the 40-member House. Two other Congress leaders had also recently resigned as MLAs in the state, where elections are due early next year.

Notably, the Congress last week declared its first list of eight candidates for the forthcoming state polls, and Lourenco's name figured in it.

Lourenco, who represented the Curtorim Assembly segment in south Goa district, submitted his resignation to the Assembly Speaker's office on Monday afternoon. He later also resigned from the Congress, sources said.

Lourenco, who was the working president of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee, was not available for comments.

He may join the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) soon, the sources said. Earlier this month, former Goa chief minister Ravi Naik resigned as Congress MLA. A few months back, ex-CM Luizinho Faleiro had also quit the Congress and joined the TMC, which has decided to contest the Goa Assembly polls.

In the 2017 Goa Assembly elections, the Congress had won 17 seats in the House and emerged as the single largest party. But, the BJP, which had bagged 13 seats, quickly tied-up with some regional parties and independents to form government in the state.