Congress to challenge dismissal of disqualification petition

Panaji, Feb 24 : The Congress on Thursday said it will challenge an order of the Bombay High Court in Goa which dismissed petitions seeking disqualification of the 12 MLAs who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after quitting their respective parties in 2019. ”The order is on expected lines and we are going to challenge it in the Supreme Court. Because the very existence of a political party is in question. The politics that is taking place all over the country will encourage the politics of the Modi government at the Centre,” Goa Congress President Girish Chodankar told reporters. ”With the use of money they can change the mandate of the people. This order goes against the existence of the political parties and the existence of democratic values. It is setting a bad precedent in the country where after the election a few MLAs can come together and take a decision, irrespective of the fact that a political party had nominated them as a candidate,” he said. ”The very spirit of the 10th schedule of the Constitution has been defeated,” he said. Chodankar had filed a disqualification petition against the party’s 10 MLAs who quit the Congress and joined the BJP in July 2019. A similar petition was filed by Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) MLA Sudin Dhavalikar against two party MLAs for switching over to the BJP. On April 21 last year, Goa Assembly Speaker Rajesh Patnekar had dismissed the petitions filed by the Congress and the BJP leaders. Switching over side by the Congress and MGP MLAs strengthened the BJP in the Assembly, providing it stability over the last two and half years. Of 12 MLAs, 11 have contested the elections held on February 14, the results of which will be announced on March 10. AKM MR