MAPUSA
Leader of Opposition, Michael Lobo and three other Congress MLAs who are supposedly close to him including his wife attended the inaugural function of the training programme for MLAs on Monday at a starred resort in the capital city but abstained from the training session.
Delilah Lobo (Siolim MLA), Kedar Naik (Saligao MLA) and Rajesh Phaldesai (Cumbarjhua MLA) were the three other Congress legislators who made their presence felt at the beginning of the training programme.
Defending his decision to attend the inauguration of the training programme, the Opposition Leader said that he attended the event only because of the Speaker’s invite.
“We need to respect the chair. We have to come when the Speaker calls us. I also told the MLAs we will attend the inaugural function but we won’t attend the training session,” Lobo said.
He said the Congress party had taken a decision not to attend the training session in a five star resort which would lead to wasteful expenditure.
“The training session could have been organised in the conference hall of the assembly complex. The expenses to hold the two-day event in a resort will be huge. Ultimately, it's taxpayer’s money that will be spent,” he said.
Late Sunday night, the Congress received a missive from the high command to boycott the training session and accordingly directed all its MLAs to abstain from the programme.
The Congress said it opposed the decision of holding the programme in a five star resort which was against the party’s stand that the Goa government should adopt austerity measures and uphold democratic values.
The grand old party was also upset that the agency appointed to impart the training was a propaganda arm of the BJP.
The training session for MLAs was organised by the Goa Legislature Secretariat in association with Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, a Pune-based research organisation.
