Panaji (Goa) [India], January 16 (ANI): In a setback for the Trinamool Congress in Goa, the sitting MLA from Curtorim, Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco quit the primary membership of the party within a month of joining it, said an official statement issued by Mahua Moitra, Lok Sabha MP and AITC Goa in-charge on Sunday.

New Delhi Dec 26 PTI The TMC and AAP are fracturing the non-BJP vote in Goa senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said on Sunday and asserted that only his party has the capacity to defeat the BJPChidambaram who is the Congress senior election observer for the Goa Assembly polls also said that loyalty to the party and the electorate is the first criterion for selecting candidates for the elections and expressed confidence that when elected they will remain loyal to both the party as well as the electorateHis remarks come days after the partys state working president Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco resigned as a Member of the Legislative Assembly reducing the partys strength to two in the 40-member House Lourenco has joined the TMCEarlier this month former Goa chief minister Ravi Naik resigned as Congress MLA A few months back ex-CM Luizinho Faleiro had also quit the Congress and joined the Trinamool Congress TMCIn an interview with PTI Chidambaram said the only party that has deep roots in all the 40 constituencies of Goa is the Congress and the people know that it is only the Congress that has the capacity to defeat the BJP despite the latters money power and misuse of state powerAsked about the recent resignations from the Congress with some quitting to join the TMC including Lourenco and the Mamata Banerjee-led outfit adopting an aggressive pitch in the state Chidambaram said it is not for him to comment on the motive or strategy of any party and stressed that only two Congress MLAs have joined the TMC Ninety nine per cent of Congress workers remain with the Congress I am not unhappy that Mr Reginaldo Lourenco defected to the TMC The TMC has taken a losing candidate from our hands and if it fields him in the election he will remain a losing candidate the former Union minister saidThe Congress workers and the voters of Curtorim constituency are determined to defeat Lourenco Chidambaram saidAsked whether he believes that the TMC is helping the BJP and the Mamata Banerjee-led party along with the Aam Aadmi Party AAP were acting as the BJPs B-teams Chidambaram said I do not comment on the motives of any party In a straight fight between the BJP and the Congress in 2022 the Congress will emerge as a clear winner The TMC and AAP are fracturing the non-BJP vote Whether that will benefit the BJP I cannot say he saidOn whether the Congress would announce a chief ministerial face ahead of polls Chidambaram pointed out that he has said that after all the Congress candidates are announced in consultation with them we will take a call whether it is desirable to announce a CM candidate before the election That option is open he addedTalking about the poll preparations and the Congress standing in Goa he said the Congress slide took place in 2017 and 2019 when its elected MLAs defected to the BJP The BJP government in Goa is a government of defectors by defectors and for defectors Chidambaram alleged There is an overwhelming desire for change The only party that has deep roots in all the 40 constituencies of Goa is the Congress The people know that it is only the Congress that has the capacity to defeat the BJP despite the latters money power and misuse of state power We hope to do well in the 2022 elections Chidambaram saidAsked about the possibility of an exodus of partys elected leaders following the elections he said Nothing of that sort will happen We have placed the responsibility of suggesting names of potential candidates on the Block Congress Committees and the Block workers We have asked them to recommend names based on loyalty integrity acceptability to the Congress workers and winnability among the electorate Loyalty to the party and the electorate is the first criterion Chidambaram assertedWe will pick a candidate from among the names suggested by the Block Congress Committee of the constituency We are confident that our candidates when elected will remain loyal to the party and the electorate he saidOn the possibility of alliances Chidambaram said I have found that in Goa it is a practice among political parties to talk to each other right up to the elections and even after the elections Our Goa PCC leaders have responded to suggestions for talks from other parties including the Goa Forward Party There are opportunities risks and bumps The AICC leadership will take the final decisions he said The Congress had released its first list of eight candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Goa last week fielding former chief minister Digamber Kamat from the Margao constituencyThe Congress this week also named Pratapsingh Rane 82 as the partys candidate from Goas Poriem assembly seat In the 2017 Goa Assembly elections the Congress had won 17 seats in the House and emerged as the single largest party But the BJP which had bagged 13 seats quickly tied-up with some regional parties and independents to form the government in the stateLourencos resignation as Member of the Legislative Assembly on Monday reduced the partys strength to two in the 40-member House after a series of resignations over the last few years by the partys legislatorsThe AAP had contested the last assembly polls but failed to win a seat The TMC has entered the poll fray in Goa and has tied-up with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party PTI ASK BJ DV DV

Panaji Dec 21 PTI Carlose Almeida the BJP MLA from Vasco on Tuesday quit the ruling party and resigned as a member of the Goa Legislative Assembly ahead of state pollsThe MLA said he was quitting as he had been asked to work in the constituency under the leadership of Daji Salkar against whom he had filed a case of fraudAssembly polls are due in the coastal state early next yearAlmeida became the second BJP MLA to quit the party and seventh legislator to resign from the Assembly in the recent weeksBefore him Luizinho Faleiro Ravi Naik Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco all from Congress Jayesh Salgaonkar Goa Forward Party Rohan Khaunte independent and Alina Saldanha BJP had resigned from the 40-member House PTI RPS KRK KRK

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], December 20 (ANI): Ahead of Goa Assembly polls, Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, who resigned from Congress on Monday, arrived in Kolkata and is likely to join Trinamool Congress, which is also set to contest the upcoming state polls.

Panaji (Goa) [India], December 20 (ANI): In another blow to Congress ahead of Goa Assembly polls, Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, the party's state working president, resigned from the Member of the Legislative Assembly on Monday.

Panaji Dec 20 PTI In yet another jolt the Congress ahead of the Goa Assembly polls the partys state working president Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco resigned as Member of the Legislative Assembly on Monday reducing the partys strength to two in the 40-member House Two other Congress leaders had also recently resigned as MLAs in the state where elections are due early next year The Congress reacted sharply to Lourencos resignation saying people who betray the trust will face consequences and that voters from Lourencos Assembly segment will teach him a befitting lesson Notably the Congress last week declared its first list of eight candidates for the forthcoming state polls and Lourencos name figured in it Lourenco who represented the Curtorim Assembly segment in south Goa district submitted his resignation to the Assembly Speakers office on Monday afternoon He later also resigned from the Congress sources said Lourenco who was the working president of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee was not available for comments He may join the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress Party TMC soon the sources said Reacting to the political development Congress Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao in a tweet said the party was undeterred and unfazed People who do things selfishly and betray trust will face the consequences After taking whatever he could and misleading us till the last minute if he could lie and cheat us Im sure the voters of Curtorim will teach him a befitting lesson he tweeted Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Digambar Kamat tweeted that the Congress has successfully faced many storms floods tsunamis Our functionaries have strength mettle to defeat opportunists Congress Party is here to form Government in 2022 I am committed to lead the INCGoa to a thumping victory the former Goa CM said Earlier this month former Goa chief minister Ravi Naik resigned as Congress MLA A few months back ex-CM Luizinho Faleiro had also quit the Congress and joined the TMC which has decided to contest the Goa Assembly polls In the 2017 Goa Assembly elections the Congress had won 17 seats in the House and emerged as the single largest party But the BJP which had bagged 13 seats quickly tied-up with some regional parties and independents to form government in the state PTI RPS GK GK

Panaji Nov 23 PTI Congress leaders in Goa on Tuesday scrambled to clear the air a day after state unit working president Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco visited the hotel where BJPs Goa election incharge Devendra Fadnavis has been staying Lourencos midnight visit to the hotel had triggered various speculations in political circles ahead of the Goa Assembly polls due in February next year Lourenco was spotted leaving the hotel on Monday midnight He had refused to divulge the purpose of his visit when asked by media persons waiting there On Tuesday Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Girish Chodankar told reporters that he had asked Lourenco to visit the hotel to attend a scheduled meeting with a poll strategist Lourenco had not gone to meet any BJP leader A meeting was scheduled with an election strategist As I couldnt go I sent Lourenco there in midnight Chodankar told a press conference The Congress leader said one cannot screen the hotels for the presence of BJP leaders Meanwhile Lourenco told reporters that he was supposed to meet an election strategist in the hotel but moved out immediately when he came to know that BJP leaders were staying there When I saw BJP leaders were present there I thought of moving back immediately he said and added that he was loyal to Congress and will remain so PTI RPS NSK NSK

Panaji Oct 18 PTI Opposition MLAs protested on Monday in the Goa Assembly and rushed to the Well of the House aggrieved at the frequent postponement of replies to questions tabled by them A two-day session of the coastal states 40-member Assembly began here on Monday Opposition MLAs including Goa Forward Partys Vijai Sardesai Jayesh Salgaonkar and Vinod Palekar rushed to the Well of the House after Speaker Rajesh Ptanekar allowed the postponement of questions while their protest was supported by Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat Independent MLA Rohan Khaunte and Congress MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco among others The protests began after the Speaker asked members to not ask questions that are too detailed as the answer would have to be collected collated and given within a time limit with the minister having to verify the information tabled It is right of the minister to postpone the reply when the answer is too detailed as the minister is held responsible for the information that he has submitted Patnekar said The opposition was upset after Chief Minister Pramod Sawant sought postponement of the replies to the questions related to COVID-19 deaths as well as grabbing of community lands The opposition benches were not happy with the ruling of the Speaker and continued creating ruckus on the floor of the House after which he adjourned the session till 1230 pm PTI RPS BNM BNM BNM

New Delhi [India], October 11 (ANI/NewsVoir): The KGK Group debuted in Angola by establishing a cutting-edge diamond manufacturing unit in Luanda in 2019.

New Delhi Aug 30 PTI Ahead of the Goa assembly elections the Congress on Monday appointed Alexio Sequeira as the working president of the partys state unit while Girish Chodankar will remain its presidentFormer chief minister Luizinho Falerio has been appointed chairperson of the election co-ordination committee and M K Shaikh its convenorGoa goes to polls early next year to elect its 40-member assembly and the Congress seeks to wrest control of the state from the BJPCongress president Sonia Gandhi has approved the proposal for the continuance of Girish Chodankar as the president Goa Pradesh Congress Committee GPCC and Digambar Kamat as the CLP Leader of Goa a statement issued by the party saidThe Congress president has also appointed Alexio Sequeira as the working president of the GPCC with immediate effect it saidReginaldo Lourenco has been appointed chairperson of the campaign committee for the state while Sangeetha Parab has been made its co-chairpersonFrancisco Sardinha has been made the chairperson of the finance committee and Pramoda Salgaocar its co-chairperson the statement said Ramakant Khalap and Elvis Gomes have been made chairperson and co-chairperson of the manifesto committee while Chandrakant Chodankar and Martha Saldanha have been appointed as chairperson and co-chairperson of the publicity committee of the GPCC it saidPTI SKC ANB ANB