Announcing that the Delhi unit of the Congress will be protesting outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s office on Monday, Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said had the Election Commission acted on their petition earlier, the Aam Aadmi Party would not have sent three members to the Rajya Sabha.
“The Election Commission (EC) recommended to the President the disqualification of MLAs on January 19 while on December 22, the EC declared the results of the three Delhi Rajya Sabha seats. We believe that if the EC had taken this decision before December 22, then AAP MLAs would not have been able to vote and the party would have disintegrated,” Mr. Maken said.
“The EC should take decisions quickly on such matters. It shouldn’t keep decisions pending and announce them on some date to help the AAP,” he said. Mr. Maken said Mr. Kejriwal had lost the moral right to continue in office.
The Congress leader contested the claim that the disqualified lawmakers were not enjoying any perk or monetary benefit.
“I have released a letter of the Chief Secretary of the Delhi government to the EC where he has admitted that ₹13.25 lakh was allotted for their office furniture and ₹11.75 lakh had been spent. Even their electricity and water bills were paid by the Delhi government,” he said.
BJP welcomes move
Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari said with his speedy decision, the President had made a major contribution towards protecting democratic values. “People of Delhi feel the AAP MLAs must now return to the treasury all financial benefits they have taken,” he said.
BJP MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa said he would move court to get Mr. Kejriwal disqualified for appointing the MLAs to the office of profit.
(With Jaideep Deo Bhanj)
Published - January 21, 2018 05:04 pm IST
