Avertano Furtado, who was earlier a minister in the Manohar Parrikar-led government in Goa, joined the Congress here on Tuesday.
According to party sources, he is likely to contest the coming Assembly elections from Navelim, the constituency from where he had lost to Luizinho Faleiro in 2017.
Mr. Faleiro quit the Congress as well as resigned as legislator and joined the Trinamool Congress Party earlier this week.
Mr. Furtado was inducted in the party in the presence of Congress' Goa `desk in-charge' Dinesh Gundu Rao, State Congress chief Girish Chodankar and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Digambar Kamat.
Mr. Furtado, who had supported the BJP government as an independent MLA, held various portfolios including fisheries in the Manohar Parrikar-led cabinet between 2012 to 2017.
In 2017 polls, he was defeated by Mr. Faleiro in Navelim.
Mr. Furtado said he always wanted to join Congress and work for it in Navelim constituency but Mr. Faleiro was a stumbling block.
“After I lost the 2017 election, I had decided I will never contest again. But my voters kept on urging me that I should contest,” he said.
