Joshua de Souza elected Deputy Speaker of Goa Assembly
The Congress said that the trio who had abstained from voting for the opposition’s candidate helped solve the ‘mystery’ of the three who cross voted during the presidential elections
BJP nominee Joshua de Souza was on Friday elected to the post of deputy speaker securing 24 out of 40 votes in the Goa legislative assembly while Congress nominee Delilah Lobo got 12 votes -- with the AAP and Revolutionary Goans party abstaining from voting during the election.
De Souza was expected to sail through by virtue of the majority the government holds and secured the votes of the ruling BJP lawmakers, its alliance partner the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and three independents.
The opposition was however divided in its approach. The Congress with 11 MLAs and the Goa Forward Party with a lone representative in the legislative assembly supported the opposition candidate while Aam Aadmi Party and the Revolutionary Goans party abstained from voting.
AAP leader Venzy Viegas said the Congress failed to take them into confidence before choosing the candidate, forcing the party to abstain from voting.
“At the time of the election of the speaker, we held a meeting and together decided on who will be the opposition candidate. In this instance, we were not consulted,” Viegas told the media.
The Congress said that the trio who had abstained from voting for the opposition’s candidate helped solve the ‘mystery’ of the three who cross voted during the presidential elections.
“Cross Voting during Presidential Elections reflected today during Election of Deputy Speaker. A & B Team of @BJP4India stands Exposed. After all its AAPkaBJPparivar. Mystery of 3 Votes stands solved,” state Congress president Amit Patkar said in a tweet.
A legislator for the second time, Joshua de Souza succeeded his father Francisco de Souza a former deputy chief minister who passed away while in office in 2019.
