Ex-Goa CM Digambar Kamat removed as permanent invitee to Congress Working Committee

NEW DELHI: The Congress leadership on Sunday removed former Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat from his current position as a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) with immediate effect.

This is after the Goa unit of the Congress party accused Kamat and former CLP leader Michael Lobo of conspiring against the party and “hobnobbing with the BJP” to engineer a split in the the party’s state legislative wing.

Last week, the Congress removed Lobo from the post of Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) President Amit Patkar filed a disqualification petition against Kamat and Lobo before the Assembly Speaker.

The Speaker admitted the petition but said it would be taken up after the on-going Assembly session.

Meanwhile, the Goa unit of the party on Friday shifted five out of its 11 MLAs to Chennai just before Monday’s Presidential elections.

The five MLAs are Sankalp Amonkar, Yuri Alemao, Altone D’Costa, Rudolf Fernandes and Carlos Alvares Ferreira.

However, six other MLAs – Digambar Kamat, Michael Lobo, Delialah Lobo, Kedar Naik, Aleixo Sequeira and Rajesh Faldesai – are not part of the group. They are part of the other lobby that possibly wants to align or merge with the BJP.

When contacted, Michael Lobo said he had no idea why the five other MLAs were taken to Chennai.

“I was not invited. I don’t know why they were taken to Chennai,” said Lobo, who claimed he was in Mumbai on Friday evening for business work.