Goa: Digambar Kamat and Michael Lobo say they are with Congress

Panaji, July 10: Digambar Kamat and Michael Lobo, who are accused of engineering defections with the support of the BJP, have stated that they are still with Congress, but they are hurt with the allegations against them.

"I saw a video of the presser of Dinesh Gundu Rao (Congress Goa in-charge) which is being circulated. I am shocked and stunned; it has hurt me beyond words. Dinesh Rao was at my place on Saturday night, I told him my position then," ANI quoted Kamat as saying.

He stated that the rumours of him joining the BJP are doing rounds since 2017. "Because of your humiliation towards me after the elections, my workers are angry, I'm also deeply hurt. So for the time being, I said, I am not going to accept any responsibility. Once I'm fit, we'll see," he added.

"I stayed with the Congress. I led the party from front during the Assembly election (earlier this year), but after the polls, I was not given the post of leader of opposition," Kamat said.

On his turn, Lobo said that he skipped the Congress meeting on Sunday as there were too many meetings and press conferences. He clarified that his visit to Chief Minister Sawant's residence was to discuss about compensation to the people affected by the inclement weather.

"We won on the Congress ticket and we are with the Congress party. The question does not arise of having so many press conferences and so many CLP (Congress Legislature Party) meetings. Allegations are made. Yesterday because we were not there for the press conference, does it necessitate allegations? We were there yesterday (afternoon) and the day before. We are strongly with the Congress," Hindustan Times quoted Lobo as saying.

The Congress subsequently removed Lobo from the post of Leader of Opposition in the 40-member state Assembly. Congress's Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao had alleged that "Lobo and Kamat were hatching a conspiracy by hobnobbing with the BJP to engineer a split in the Congress."

On replacing him as the Leader of Opposition, Lobo said he had told the party that he was not interested to continue as the LoP.