Congress leader Digambar Kamat was appointed the Leader of Opposition in the Goa Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, PTI reported. This came after a spree of defections in the Congress party in Goa, which has reduced its strength in the Assembly to five.

Kamat served as the chief minister of Goa between 2007 and 2012. The All India Congress Committee approved Kamat’s election as the leader of the Opposition, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Girish Chodankar said.

Kamat’s appointment was reportedly finalised last week during a meeting of the five members in the House with AICC Secretary A Chellakumar.

On Tuesday, Kamat had raised concerns over the increase in crimes in the state, which he claimed would affect tourism. “If the law and order machinery fails, tourism will be affected,” The Times of India quoted him as saying. “Law and order is perfect in the state and a signal needs to be sent across India and abroad to bring confidence among tourists.”

On June 11, 10 Congress MLAs officially joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, a day after resigning from the Goa Congress Legislative Party. The Congress was the single largest party in Goa after the 2017 elections to the 40-member Assembly, but the BJP tied up alliances to form the state government.