The Aam Aadmi Party led by Arvind Kejriwal had won a thumping mandate in the last Delhi elections; sweeping to power with 67 out of the total 70 legislative seats in 2015. Though the state elections are not due for nearly two more years, it appears that the state may go to the polls in as many as 20 seats in the national capital shortly.
The Election Commission recommended disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs based on the finding that these individuals held an ‘office for profit’. This was pursuant to a petition filed by Delhi based advocate Prashant Patel. He claims not to be a supporter of any political party but is a known social media troll who is frequently seen to make anti-women and anti-minority posts.
AAP issued the clarification that the MLA functioned as parliamentary secretaries and did not take any salaries or perks for this. As such their work could not be described as ‘office for profit’.
The EC recommended disqualification of 20 MLAs to President Ram Nath Kovind. The President is bound to uphold the recommendations of the EC and as such, the President has disqualified the said MLAs. AAP described this as "unconstitutional" and "dangerous for democracy".
The MLAs had been appointed as parliamentary secretaries after The Delhi Legislative assembly pushed an amendment bill that exempts parliamentary secretaries from the office of profit rule. A complaint in this matter was filed by Patel three years ago, and show-cause notices had been issued to the AAP MLAs.
The MLAs disqualified by the President filed a petition in the High Court against the EC recommendation. According to advocate and AAP member, Raghav Chadha, "EC's recommendation & subsequent notification by the Pres suffer from serious legal infirmities and is not worth the paper it is written on. Have full faith that the courts will consign it to the dustbin." It is also the AAP’s position that they were not allowed to put forward its case before issuing the disqualification.
Deputy CM Manish Sisodia addressed an open letter to the people of Delhi and asked them whether it was fair to push the state into an election. "Is it justified to remove elected lawmakers in this unconstitutional and illegal manner? Isn't it dirty politics?" he asked and said that he reposed faith in the electorate that they would make a wise decision.
It seems clear that AAP is committed to a legal resolution of the situation that it finds itself in now. Even while the High Court’s order in the matter is awaited, the political parties appear to be gearing up for elections. If the EC’s recommendations and the President's disqualification are upheld, elections will have to be held for the 20 seats. There is also the apprehension that various development projects around initiated by the state government in Delhi will be delayed by these developments. For instance, Delhi's minister for administrative reforms, transport and revenue; Najagarh's MLA Kailash Gahlot is one of the legislators who have been disqualified after the president's order. So will we see elections in Delhi soon? Clarity is awaited.
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