Herald

Panaji, Mar 16: Save Goa Democratic Party (SGDP) President Siddhanth Buyao has said that the reported statement of Shantaram Naik MP Rajya Sabha, urging the Union Government to amend the anti-defection Act so as to disqualify elected representatives who publicly dissent with the party views smacks of a dictatorial tendency.

Naik should know the difference between those who get elected because of public support to their leadership and those who get nominated who are by and large rootless politicians, Buyao said in a press note.

If a political party is dissatisfied or disenchanted with the public behavior, public postures or public statements of its elected parliamentary/legislative member, there are other means of punishing such errant representatives, he said. They could be either suspended from the party, expel from the party and deny him/her nominations for the next elections, he added.

Naik should know that only rootless politicians crawl when they are asked by their leaders to bow and this is not very healthy signs for a vibrant democratic setup which our country enjoys till today and which is admired all over the world, Buyao stated.