Party-hopping a ‘disturbing trend’, need stronger anti-defection law: Former VP Venkaiah Naidu

Politicians quitting their parties and fighting elections for other political outfits is a “disturbing trend” that calls for a stronger anti-defection law, former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said on Tuesday, reported The Indian Express.

“In the morning, you are in one party, in the afternoon, you join the other one,” the former vice president said at a function in New Delhi after he received the Padma Vibhushan from President Droupadi Murmu. “The next day, you get a ticket to fight the election. First, you are praising your new leader and then you abuse your former leader.”

Naidu suggested that a defector should ideally resign from all political posts before joining another party. “I can understand about accusations but using abusive language should be avoided,” Naidu added.

Naidu said that he had been with the Bharatiya Janata Party throughout his political career of five decades, during which he served as a Union minister and as the party’s president between 2002 and 2004.

The remarks come at a time when a number of politicians are changing parties in the hopes of contesting the Lok Sabha elections. According to The Indian Express, more than a quarter of the BJP’s 433 candidates contesting the polls have joined from other parties. However, the former vice president clarified...

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