PANAJI
In order to tackle horse-trading and defections, Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has announced that their candidates will sign a legal affidavit promising not to switch parties.
He said, "horse-trading and defections are the biggest problems in Goan politics. Every day there is news that someone has switched parties… to resolve this problem, AAP candidates will sign an affidavit and distribute it among Goan voters, assuring them they won't jump to another party”.
The affidavit reads as follows: "If I come elected, I will not leave my party and will not resort to corruption. If I leave the party then I am liable for legal prosecution".
Kejriwal said this affidavit will be distributed to every single voter in the candidate's constituency.
He further said, "before AAP joining Delhi politics, there was rampant corruption. Therefore, during the party's first election in Delhi, we signed a similar affidavit against corruption in Delhi in 2013 and distributed to every single voter".
Speaking on anti-defection law, he stated horse-trading is not new for Indian politics. "It is not just in Goa, currently the defection virus has been spreading across the entire country. A party is coming to power on the heels of defections from other parties. Therefore, I think anti-defection law also need to be strengthened in the country", he said.
It may be recalled that Kejriwal had earlier said that Goa was currently witnessing only two types of political discourse -- party hopping and alliances.
He had lamented that there wasn't any leader who spoke about improving the quality of education, boosting water supply or providing employment to locals. On the other hand AAP had come to Goa with a blueprint for development.
