This story is from October 19, 2018

To prevent check-outs, Congress MLAs check-in at a resort in Goa

Fear of losing more MLAs to the BJP’s poaching attempts has forced Congress MLAs to cloister themselves at a Candolim-based resort.
To prevent check-outs, Congress MLAs check-in at a resort in Goa
Former chief minister Pratapsingh Rane said ‘there will be news when we topple the government’
PANAJI: Fear of losing more MLAs to the BJP’s poaching attempts has forced Congress MLAs to cloister themselves at a Candolim-based resort. There are strong indications that both the GFP and BJP are trying to further reduce Congress numbers and are in touch with at least four more of their MLAs.
Ever since Mandrem MLA Dayanand Sopte and Shiroda MLA Subhash Shirodkar quit the Congress to join the BJP on Tuesday, panic has gripped the Congress leadership.
The party, which had claimed to have sufficient numbers to form the government, has suffered a serious blow to its morale, said party members.
Shocked by the developments, the party has now swung into damage control mode and has decided to protect its flock by literally staying together.
Goa desk in-charge and All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary A Chella Kumar confirmed that the party MLAs were staying together, but refused to elaborate further. All he offered was that they were “waiting and watching”.
The MLAs have been cloistered for two days at a hotel owned by former Congress MLA Agnelo Fernandes.
“They are staying together because there is no place in Panaji to have meetings and stay. We are now waiting,” Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Girish Chodankar said when asked to confirm the developments.
Late evening, most of them had left the resort.
Responding to queries as he left the hotel, former chief minister Digambar Kamat said they had checked into the resort for some “rest” and there was nothing political about the stay. While St Andre MLA Francis Silveira chose to stay mum, former chief minister Pratapsingh Rane, in a lighter vein, said, “There will be news when we topple the government. There is no news now.”
The Congress emerged as the single largest party in the 2017 assembly elections, but immediately saw lawmaker Vishwajit Rane quitting in a huff after the Congress failed to form the government. Rane joined the BJP. Now with Sopte and Shirodkar following suit, the Congress has lost its single largest party status, a development that serves as a boost to the saffron party.
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