agencies
New Delhi, Jan 19: The Election Commission Friday recommended to the President the disqualification of 20 Aam Aadmi Party MLAs on grounds that they have held office of profit alongside being legislators. The move sets the stage for their ouster from the Assembly.
The Election Commission, sources said, has stated that by occupying the post of parliamentary secretaries between March 13, 2015 and September 8, 2016, the MLAs held office of profit and were liable to be disqualified as legislators.
The President is bound to go by the recommendation of the Commission. Under rules, petitions to the President seeking disqualification of lawmakers are referred to the EC. The poll panel takes a decision and sends its recommendation to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, which is then accepted.
In the present case, the petition originally sought disqualification of 21 MLAs, but one resigned a few months ago.
Once the President accepts the opinion, by-elections will have to be held for the 20 Assembly seats.
The AAP has a massive majority in the 70-member Delhi assembly with 65 seats, and the impending disqualification will not endanger the Arvind Kejriwal government, although the number of party MLAs will come down to 45.
Reacting to the recommendation AAP said the Election Commission was insinuated into such action by the prime minister. AAP leader Ashutosh tweeted: “The EC should not be the letter
box of the PMO. But that is the reality today.”
The Congress, meanwhile, welcomed the Election Commission’s decision. The party’s Delhi unit chief Ajay Maken said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had lost the right to be in power after the EC decision.
BJP’s Delhi chief Manoj Tiwari, too, said the party was prepared for elections any moment. He said it was disappointing that the EC had allowed “undue” adjournments to AAP MLAs, which cost the people of Delhi dear. “We welcome the EC decision disqualifying 20 AAP MLAs. Arvind Kejriwal should take moral responsibility for defeat and resign,” he said.
Legislators on way out
Adarsh Shastri (Dwarka); Alka Lamba (Chandni Chowk); Anil Bajpai (Gandhi Nagar); Avtar Singh (Kalkaji); Kailash Gahlot (Najafgarh; also minister); Madan Lal (Kasturba Nagar); Manoj Kumar (Kondli); Naresh Yadav (Mehrauli); Nitin Tyagi (Laxmi Nagar); Praveen Kumar (Jangpura); Rajesh Gupta (Wazirpur); Rajesh Rishi (Janakpuri); Sanjeev Jha (Burari); Sarita Singh (Rohtas Nagar); Som Dutt (Sadar Bazar); Sharad Kumar (Narela); Shiv Charan Goel (Moti Nagar); Sukhbir Singh (Mundka); Vijendar Garg (Rajinder Nagar); and Jarnail Singh (Tilak Nagar) Seven of these MLAs moved the Delhi High Court challenging the poll panel’s recommendation. The matter was mentioned before a bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal, which listed the matter for hearing Friday itself. The court later refused to pass any interim order of protection to the MLAs recommended for disqualification.
