Candidates of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday signed a legal affidavit ahead of the Assembly elections, while taking a ‘pledge’ to remain loyal to the State’s voters and their party after the results.
This oath, which was taken in the presence of AAP National Convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, comes days after the ‘loyalty pledge’ taken by Congress candidates vowing not to switch parties after the polls.
However, well before the Congress’ move, Mr. Kejriwal had made it clear in December last year during his public address in Panaji that all AAP candidates would be signing an affidavit so that the Goan people could take them to court if they switched parties or indulged in corrupt practices after elections.
Kejriwal’s stand
“Goa’s politics are mired in corruption today. It is seen that many candidates immediately change their party after the elections regardless of the ticket on which they contest. In the last few years, candidates have defected en masse from the Congress to the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] … This is tantamount to cheating voters and selling their votes. Hence, all AAP candidates have signed an affidavit forswearing all forms of corruption, taking of bribes and vowing to stay within the AAP only,” Mr. Kejriwal told reporters in Panaji on Wednesday.
He said all AAP candidates would send photocopies of their affidavits so that people could later take the candidate to task by filing breach of trust motions or holding them for taking false oaths if they acted contrary to what they pledged in the affidavit.
“We have chosen our candidates very carefully. People may question the need for an affidavit if we are so confident about the character of our candidates as we claim … however, given the volatility of Goa’s politics, it is not enough for one merely to be honest, but he or she must be seen to be honest as well. The trouble is, going by the rampant political defections of the past years and months, the people of Goa no longer believe that a government can be run honestly. The AAP is here to prove everyone wrong,” said the Delhi Chief Minister.
Goa’s politics have long been plagued by the virus of political defections, with no less than 13 sitting legislators (nearly 33%) in the 40-seat Goa Assembly switching sides in the last four months itself. Since the 2017 Assembly election, as many as 26 MLAs (65% of the Goa Assembly) have switched parties,
‘Confidence building step’
“The signing of legal affidavits was a confidence building measure among our voters,” said the AAP’s chief ministerial candidate Amit Palekar, remarking that anti-defection laws were very weak in India, particularly in Goa.
In a veiled jibe at the Congress, Mr. Palekar said the AAP’s candidates were giving the electorate in writing that they would not indulge in corrupt practices or shift allegiances after the polls instead of merely going to a temple or mosque to take loyalty pledges.
“While it is good that a party [the Congress] has taken its candidates to a temple and a church to swear loyalty to the party, they should take their pledge in front of people. How will the public have confidence in what you [the Congress’ candidates] have said in temple? But in the case of our affidavit, if a candidate tries to change parties after this public oath, then he or she will instantly lose public credibility,” said Mr. Kejriwal, differentiating between the AAP and the Congress pledges.
He drily remarked that the defection of 10 Congress MLAs to the BJP in July 2019 was worthy of a “Guinness Book Record”, while stating that the contest in the coming polls was clearly one between the AAP and the BJP.
“The AAP is the only alternative to the BJP today because the politics in Goa are such that winning candidates from other parties sooner or later defect to the BJP,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
The Delhi Chief Minister hit out at Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent remarks at the BJP’s campaign rally that the AAP was merely making hollow promises about giving Goans free electricity and other freebies.
“I want to ask Amit Shah how much units he gets free from Delhi government [led by the AAP]? When he gets free electricity from the Delhi government, he never complains, but he has a problem when the AAP promises this to the public. … so, if he can get free electricity from the taxpayers’ money, then why not the taxpayers’ themselves?” Mr. Kejriwal said.
The Goa Assembly election is to be held in a single phase on February 14 with the counting of votes to take place on March 10. Among the players in Goa poll fray, both the AAP and the BJP are contesting all 40 seats independently while the Congress has forged an alliance with the Vijai Sardesai-led Goa Forward Party (GFP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has joined hands with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP).
