Team Herald

MARGAO: The volunteers of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) held a protest in Margao on Wednesday to condemn, what they called, “gutter politics” being practised by the two main political parties, the Congress and the BJP.

AAP came down heavily on former MLAs Subhash Shirodkar, Dayanand Sopte and the BJP for indulging in open horse trading, backstabbing the mandate of the people and murdering democracy.

Effigies of Amit Shah, Sopte and Shirodkar were garlanded with slippers and were trashed by their members to vent their frustration. The three effigies were then taken on a protest march in Madel and then set on fire. 

According to AAP spokesperson Sidharth Karapurkar, the burning of effigies symbolises the victory of good over evil. “The corrupt and morally defunct politicians who have started to dominate our lives are evil and eating into our democratic values. With this act of burning, we hope to cleanse our political system,” he said

Speaking at the protest, AAP leader Adv Ohm Stanley said that this trend of backstabbing the people’s mandate started with Goa Forward Party followed by Vishvajeet Rane and now Sopte and Shirodkar. He called this practice a murder of democracy.

Stanley demanded a strong anti-defection law that bans individuals who resign as MLAs from contesting the elections for the next five years. “Horse trading will immediately stop since the MLA who resigns will have no value for 5 years,” said Stanley. He also demanded that candidates who contest the MLA elections must swear an affidavit with all their promises before asking people for votes.

Rodney Almeida, the South Goa Convener for AAP, said that in the next election everyone must come together and decide that enough of BJP, Congress, Goa Forward Party and MGP. “We need a new political party in Goa. We set up our own office and are doing activities with our own money. We want to replicate in Goa what AAP has done in Delhi and we request Goans to give AAP a chance,” he said.