The decision of the Election Commission (EC) to disqualify 20 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs, which was approved by the President last week, might have come as a jolt to the party, but the former lawmakers said they are prepared to reclaim their seats with a higher majority, in case of a re-election.
Alka Lamba, disqualified MLA from Chandni Chowk, said she and her colleagues are awaiting the court’s decision to chart out their campaign strategy.
She, however, said that the former MLAs will continue to give their support and strengthen the party from the outside.
“We had not come to politics for power or money. We had come in it to serve the people of Delhi and we will continue to do that even without our MLA position. I continue to meet the people in my constituency and make myself available in whatever capacity I can. Yes, I have my limitations now because I cannot help clear their work and projects, but my people understand that,” said Ms. Lamba.
Som Dutt, former MLA from Sadar Bazar, said he had never thought that the BJP government at the Centre will go to such an extent in bringing down the AAP, “that too at the cost of the welfare of the people”. He added that he still doesn’t know on what grounds was their disqualification accepted.
“Woh kehte hai phaansi chadha do, hum puchte hain bhai, katl kiska hua yeh to bata do? (They want us to be hanged, but can they tell us who have we murdered?),” Mr. Dutt said.
Many of the formers MLAs believe that the AAP’s work in the national capital became a threat to the BJP, and they are going to any “extent to pull the Delhi government down.”
“Earlier the scene was that neither the BJP nor the Congress was working. Both were taking turns to loot the people of Delhi. Therefore, they weren’t a threat to each other. When our party came to power things started changing, work started happening and this has scared our adversaries,” said Rajesh Gupta, former MLA from Wazirpur.
He also said that what the BJP doesn’t realise is that by such “evident attacks they are only helping the AAP indirectly.”
“Look at the case of the movie Padmaavat, the protests created a curiosity in the minds of the audience. Similarly, people of Delhi will also think why the all powerful Prime Minister Narendra Modi is after MLAs such as me?” Mr. Gupta said.
