Michael Vincent Lobo (born 18 June 1976), is an Indian businessperson and politician from Goa. He is a former member of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

and MLA of

Goa Legislative Assembly The Goa Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the state of Goa in India. The Assembly meets at the Goa State Legislative Assembly Complex in Porvorim, Bardez. The Eighth Goa Legislative Assembly consists of 40 members. The asse ...

from

Calangute Calangute is a town in the North Goa district of the Indian state of Goa. It is famous for its beach, the largest in North Goa and a popular tourist destination. The peak tourist season is during Christmas and New Year, and during the summer in ...

. He is also the former

Leader of Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in Goa Legislative Assembly. He supported the opening of India's first

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

club in

Candolim Candolim is a census town in North Goa and is located in the Bardez taluka in the state of Goa, India. It is situated just south of Calangute Beach and North of Sinquerim. History During the late 16th century, Candolim became the first villa ...

. Lobo resigned as

Member of Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

for

under Bhartiya Janta Party. He then joined

and was made a candidate for the

2022 Goa Legislative Assembly election : Legislative Assembly elections were held in Goa on 14 February 2022 to elect 40 members of the Eighth Goa Legislative Assembly. The votes were counted and the results were declared on 10 March 2022. Background The tenure of Goa Legislative ...

for

. He then defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party after the elections, causing public outrage and being termed a "traitor".

Early life

Michael Vincent Lobo was born on 18 June 1976 to Melchiades Vincent Lobo and Almira Lobo in Mapusa town,

North Goa North Goa district is one of the two districts that constitutes the state of Goa, India. The district has an area of , and is bounded by Kolhapur and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra state to the north and by Belgavi district of Karnataka t ...

. He obtained a

Higher Secondary School Certificate The Higher Secondary School Certificate is a secondary qualification in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Higher Secondary Education The Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education in Bangladesh recognises "Higher Secondary Education" und ...

(

twelfth grade Twelfth grade, 12th grade, senior year, or grade 12 is the final year of secondary school in most of North America. In other regions, it may also be referred to as class 12 or Year 13. In most countries, students are usually between the ages of 17 ...

) in 1993. He is a practising

Roman catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Political career

Lobo was a member of one of the two major political parties in India, the Bharatiya Janata Party. The party is the ruling party in Goa. He also served as the president of North Goa BJP. Lobo contested on the BJP ticket from Calangute Vidhan Sabha constituency (constituency number eight) in the

2012 Goa legislative assembly election The Goa legislative assembly election was held on 3 March 2012, to select the 40 members of the Sixth Goa Legislative Assembly, as the term of Sixth Legislative Assembly ended on March 2012. The result was announced on 6 March. The Bharatiya Ja ...

. According to his statement of expenditure on election, he spent over of his own money on his campaign. He received a total of 9,891 votes out of 17,751 polled votes, and won against the

candidate and incumbent MLA for Calangute Agnelo Nicholas Fernandes by 1,875 votes. He became a member of the Sixth Legislative Assembly of the State of Goa when it was constituted on 7 March 2012. He resigned as a Minister and the Member of Legislative Assembly on 10 January 2022. He joined the Indian National Congress on 11 January 2022 along with his wife. He is the chairman of the North Goa Planning and Development Authority since 24 May 2012; the authority has jurisdiction over state capital

Panaji Panaji (; also known as Panjim) is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of North Goa district. Previously, it was the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India. It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river estuary ...

and Mapusa. In April 2013, he vehemently opposed the proposal for opening India's first

Playboy Club The Playboy Club was initially a chain of nightclubs and resorts owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises. The first Playboy Club opened in Chicago in 1960. Each club generally featured a Living Room, a Playmate Bar, a Dining Room, and a Club R ...

Candolim Beach Candolim is a census town in North Goa and is located in the Bardez taluka in the state of Goa, India. It is situated just south of Calangute Beach and North of Sinquerim. History During the late 16th century, Candolim became the first villa ...

, and said the proposal was "tantamount to promoting prostitution". He declared his intention to go on a

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

to protest against the government if it went ahead with the proposal and allowed the Playboy club. The government withdrew its permission under intense opposition from different sectors of the community including sarpanchas, social activists, women's groups and members of the ruling party itself. He campaigned for the party's candidates in

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...

during the

2013 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election The 2013 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election was held on 5 May 2013 to elect members from 223 constituencies in the Indian state of Karnataka. Five major political parties contested the election: Indian National Congress (INC), Bharatiya Ja ...

in April and May 2013, and met the Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Mangalore The Roman Catholic Diocese of Mangalore ( la, Diocesis Mangalorensis) is a diocese located in the city of Mangalore in the Ecclesiastical province of Bangalore in India. The diocese falls on the southwestern coast of India. At present, it com ...

Aloysius Paul D'Souza Aloysius Paul D'Souza ( knn, अलोय्सिउस पौल डी सोझा (Devanagari), ಎಲೋಷಿಯಸ್ ಪಾವ್ಲ್ ಡಿ'ಸೋಜಾ (Kannada); born 21 June 1941) is the former Bishop of the Roman Catholic Dioce ...

for his endorsement. He is a member of Estimates Committee and Budget Committee in the Government of Goa since 8 August 2013. On 8 November 2015, Lobo tore down an illegal compound wall being constructed next to a resort in Calangute. The resort owner has also illegally filled up a lowlying paddy field adjacent to his resort near the Calangute church.

Leader of the Opposition, Goa

As a Congress MLA, he was the Leader of the Opposition in the

from 31 March 2022 until 10 July 2022.

Defection to BJP

On 14 September 2022, Lobo along with former Chief Minister of Goa and senior Congress leader Digambar Kamat and 6 other Congress MLAs joined

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

, after meeting Dr. Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister of Goa.

Personal life

Michael Lobo is married to Delilah Lobo, and together they have two children. Delilah is the current Member of

of Siolim Assembly constituency. Lobo and his wife are in possession of properties and pecuniary resources in the form of cash at hand, money in banks, National Savings Scheme and postal savings, land, jewels, insurance and properties worth about as in 2012, based on information furnished by Lobo in the affidavit submitted by him while filing his nomination for the 2012 state assembly election. His interests include music, dancing and swimming. He resides in Parra village,

Bardez ''Bardez'' ( kok, Bardes; pt, Bardes; IPA: ) is a ''taluka'' of the North Goa district in the Indian state of Goa. It was a ''concelho'' in the Portuguese State of India before 1961. Etymology The name is credited to the Saraswat Br ...

References

External links

Michael Lobo
at myneta.info
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lobo, Michael Vincent Living people 1976 births People from North Goa district Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Goa Indian Roman Catholics People from Mapusa Goa MLAs 2012–2017 Goa MLAs 2017–2022 Goa MLAs 2022–2027 Former members of Indian National Congress from Goa