Panaji, Sep 20 (IANS): Cuncolim constituency MLA Yuri Alemao has been appointed as the leader of Congress Legislature Party in Goa.

A letter signed by AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal said that Congress President has appointed Yuri Alemao as the leader of Congress Legislature Party (CLP), Goa, with immediate effect.

Yuri Alemao is the son of former Minister Joaquim Alemao and nephew of former Chief Minister of Goa Churchill Alemao.

The CLP leader post fell vacant after Congress had removed Michael Lobo from the post in July alleging he was the one who hatched a conspiracy along with former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat by hobnobbing with the BJP to split the Congress MLAs.

On September 14, former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, Michael Lobo, Delilah Lobo, Kedar Naik, Sankalp Amonkar, Rajesh Faldesai, Aleixo Sequeira and Rudolf Fernandes merged the Congress party into the BJP, reducing Congress to three MLA's in the 40-member Assembly.

MLA Yuri Alemao, MLA Altone D'Costa and MLA Carlos Alvares Ferreira preferred to stay in the Congress.

The eight MLAs, who have joined the BJP had made their first attempt to join the saffron party on July 10. However, they had not succeeded then. Even during Ganesh Chaturthi festival in August they tried again to make the number of eight MLAs, two-third, to avoid action under the anti-defection law. However, they failed the second time, but on September 14 they succeeded and merged into the BJP in their third attempt.

Dinesh Gundu Rao, on July 10, reacting to the first attempt, had attacked the BJP for allegedly offering money to the MLAs to split.

"Many of our MLAs were offered huge amounts of money to switch parties. I can't express, I am shocked about the amount of money the BJP offered to them," he further said.

Even Goa Congress former Chief Girish Chodankar had said that BJP's industrialist friends, mine owners and coal mafias were offering Rs 30 to 40 crore to the Congress MLAs to defect.

However, the BJP leaders and those MLAs, who have joined recently, have refuted the allegations by Congress.