PANAJI
A livid All India Congress Committee General Secretary Dinesh Gundu Rao on Sunday lashed out at Leader of Opposition Michael Lobo and Margao MLA Digambar Kamat over their move to desert the party.
Terming them as ‘conspirators’ and ‘traitors’, Rao who addressed the media at the Congress House in Panaji in company of GPCC president, Amit Patkar and the five legislators -- Yuri Alemao, Altone D'Costa, Rudolf Fernandes, Carlos Ferreira Alvares and Sankalp Amonkar -- attacked them for hatching a conspiracy against the Congress Party for power and personal gains in connivance with the BJP.
The party has finally come to the understanding that some of the MLAs are deserting them, he told reporters.
Squarely blaming Lobo, Rao said, “Michael has done this to save his own skin as he has many cases against him”.
In harsh words, the AICC general Secretary called Lobo a "back-stabber" among several other expletives at the press conference.
"I can use several other words (for Lobo) but I am refraining as it will not be proper to do so before the media and would be un-parliamentary," Rao said.
He also slammed Digambar saying, “despite gaining so much from the party, he has done it for the sake of power and position and violating all democratic principles and morals”.
“Kamat is indulging in cheap, dirty and desperate politics…which goes on to show that he cannot survive with power”, he said.
He further alleged that BJP was using money, institutional and government power to tackle those opposing their authoritarian regime.
“We had promised people that our MLAs will not defect. They had sworn in front of all Gods and given affidavits and today they are doing this. People will teach them a befitting lesson,” he added.
“We don’t know how many people remain, how many may move,” the visibly perturbed Rao added.
Rao said five party MLAs -- Lobo, Kamat, Kedar Naik, Rajesh Faldesai and Delilah Lobo -- have gone incommunicado.
