The Goa unit of the congress party has filed a case with the Apex Court over defection of 10 MLAs. The Congress’ move came as the Goa assembly elections of 2022 were being counted. Exit polls in the coastal state predict a hung house, with the regional MGP likely to emerge as the kingmaker.
The Congress had 17 MLAs and the BJP had 13 MLAs in the 2017 Goa assembly elections. Then, in October 2019, ten Congress MLAs joined the BJP. The Speaker rejected the Congress’ request for disqualification of the defecting MLAs, citing the fact that two-thirds of the MLAs had merged with the BJP.
The Bombay High Court upheld the Speaker’s decision to reject the Congress’s request. The Congress has now petitioned to the Supreme Court to overturn the high court’s order. This petition has no effect because the new assembly is likely to be formed in a day or two. The Congress, on the other hand, seems to have gone to the Supreme Court to prevent MLAs from defecting after today’s results.
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