Goa defections an outrage

Goa may be well known as a holiday paradise, but there’s a lot more to it, including a history of defecting politicians. The party-hopping is almost in the “Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram” league that had prompted the anti-defection law. Due to the weaknesses of the letter of the law, a state like Goa that elects legislators from many small parties beats the intent of the anti-defection law with machinations like midnight defections changing the equations drastically. Such is the effect of the latest round of changing loyalties as to force upon us a total rethink of the anti-defection law. Otherwise, the basic principle of democratically electing members of parties as MLAs will be scoffed at as is evident from the shifting affiliations in Goa.

The latest round of floor crossing was so bizarre as to cock a snook at the entire political system. Sudin Dhavalikar, deputy CM of a few days’ standing after the death of popular CM Manohar Parrikar, initiated the numbers game again, was sacked as both his colleagues from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) moved over to BJP CM Pramod Sawant’s camp. As two members represent two-thirds of the small party, the defection rules don’t apply to them. Such manoeuvring has become the norm since the last Assembly election, in which Congress emerged the single largest party and yet the BJP was called first by the governor to form the government. Given such a dubious first call, the party had the advantage of engineering defections. Goa, like Haryana of old, is now the epicentre, from where calls for introspection are rising about the foundation of our party system and MLAs’ loyalties being for sale.