Appealing to Delhiites to give a befitting reply, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday asked in an open letter whether the Election Commission (EC) was right in disqualifying 20 Aam Aadmi Party MLAs for holding an office of profit.
In a notification on January 20, the EC disqualified the 20 MLAs who had been appointed parliamentary secretaries to ministers, finding the post constituted an office of profit. In reply, Mr. Sisodia tweeted a two-page letter written in Hindi on Monday morning addressed to the people of Delhi.
He said the parliamentary secretaries had been appointed to assist the government — one of them visited government schools every day to check the conditions while another worked on Mohalla Clinics. He said the 20 MLAs were disqualified without a hearing.
Accuses BJP
Accusing the BJP-ruled Central government of “troubling” the AAP government, Mr. Sisodia said the BJP was worried about the work being done by the Arvind Kejriwal government. He said now that the 20 constituencies would have by-elections, the government’s work would be held up as the model code of conduct would be invoked. This, he said, would be compounded by the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
He questioned whether this decision was “dirty politics” and would push Delhi into polls. However, he urged Delhiites to give the “right and effective” reply.
