PANJIM: The Congress has challenged the defecting MLAs to resign from House and seek a fresh mandate from the people if they are confident that they have people’s support.
Congress party workers including Mahila Congress, Youth Congress, NSUI, Seva Dal and other frontal organisations of the party held a protest against the induction of 10 former Congress MLAs into the BJP and three of them being given Cabinet berths.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) spokesperson Amarnath Panjikar said, “If you are confident that the people are with you then resign and face the people again. If the people elect them back to the Assembly, we will have nothing to complain about. But you should not have misused the law and defected en masse. We condemn it.”
Stating that there is a need for an amendment in the anti-defection law, he said, “There is a need to amend the anti-defection law by which once a public representative defects to another party, he or she should not be able to contest the elections again. At least a 10 year ban should be imposed on such individuals. The politicians have mastered the technique of misusing the laws.”
Mahila Congress President Pratima Coutinho said that the party workers would not accept the defectors back into the party fold. “We appeal to the party leadership that all the defectors across the country who have defected to other parties should not be taken back into the party fold and they should not be given tickets to contest elections henceforth.”
