The Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court on Friday issued notices to two sitting BJP MLAs, including a deputy Chief Minister in connection with a disqualification petition filed against the two by the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP).
The notices were issued to Deputy Chief Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar and Public Works Department Minister Deepak Pauskar, both of whom split the regional party in March 2019 and merged their breakaway unit into the ruling BJP.
The next hearing in the disqulaification case has been scheduled for October 22.
In all 13 Congress MLAs and two MLAs from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party have joined the ruling BJP since 2019. Forty MLAs constitute the Goa legislative assembly. The state is heading for assembly polls in early 2022.
