Panaji: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which will be contesting next year’s Goa Assembly elections, on Thursday said its candidates will have to sign legal affidavits mentioning that they will not quit the party to join another one. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party has taken this decision to stem defections as it feels that the coastal state is “notorious” for politicians jumping to other parties, an AAP leader said. The AAP has decided to contest all 40 seats in Goa assembly polls, scheduled to be held in February 2022.

“Goa, despite being a tiny state is notorious for political defections,” AAP leader Amit Palekar told reporters. “In order to resolve the problem, the AAP candidates will sign a legal affidavit, promising that they will not quit the party to join another one,” he said. He asked the Congress whether it could provide any guarantee that its candidates would not defect.

“There is not a single party in the state, which can assure that its candidate will not join the BJP. In 2019, as many as 10 Congress MLAs had joined the BJP,” he said. Palekar said that Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, who had figured in the first list of candidates of the Congress, has joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which is also contesting all the seats in Goa. “Another Congress candidate is also likely join the BJP soon. Such poaching in the state indicates that the ruling BJP has learned that majority wins cannot be achieved,” he added. Palekar said that to resolve this problem, AAP candidates will sign affidavits, which will be distributed among their voters, assuring them they would not join any other party. “If they do so, voters can take a legal action against them,” he added. As soon as the AAP announces its candidate, they will sign the affidavits, Palekar said.