Another office-of-profit plea pending with Election Commission

New Delhi: With the Election Commission’s (EC) recommendation to President Ram Nath Kovind to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs for holding office-of-profit in violation of the rules, the much bigger concern for the ruling party is if the poll panel rules against its other set of 27 legislators who are facing a similar plea before the EC.

On Friday, the EC recommended the President to disqualify 20 legislators for holding posts of parliamentary secretaries between March 13, 2015, and September 8, 2016.

A similar petition seeking disqualification of 27 AAP legislators, for holding office-of-profit by taking up posts of chairpersons at Rogi Samitis of the Delhi government hospitals, is also under the scanner of the poll panel. Of these 27 legislators, names of 11 legislators are common in the petition related to the appointment of parliamentary secretaries. As such, if the EC rules against the legislators in the Rogi Samiti case, the membership of a total of 36 law makers will be at stake.

AAP had won 67 of the seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly. With AAP expelling its rebel minister Kapil Mishra and the party losing out to BJP in the Rajouri Garden byelections, the party is left with a strength of 65 legislators in the Assembly.

Though the possible disqualification of 20 MLAs — including transport minister Kailash Gahlot — will not pose an immediate threat to the government, which has 65 legislators in the 70-member House, the setback is likely to demoralise the party that had recently faced a string of losses in the elections. Should the MLAs be disqualified and by-elections called, it will again test the party’s grip on the national capital. A poor showing will also weaken chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s hold over the Delhi Assembly.

At present, AAP faces opposition from only four BJP legislators and one of its rebel MLAs in the Delhi Assembly.

The 20 MLAs, facing disqualification threat for holding parliamentary secretary posts, are from Wazirpur, Sadar Bazar, Chandni Chowk, Burari, Rohtas Nagar, Jungpura, Kondli, Laxmi Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, Moti Nagar, Rajinder Nagar, Kasturba Nagar, Narela, Mundka, Tilak Nagar, Janakpuri, Dwarka, Najafgarh, Mehrauli, and Kalkaji.

If the EC rules against AAP legislators in the Rogi Samiti case, another set of 16 legislators will have to face by-elections in Hari Nagar, Shalimarbagh, Badli, Krishna Nagar, Tri Nagar, Timarpur, Vikaspuri, Bawana, Malviya Nagar, Timarpur, Seemapuri, Patel Nagar, Mangolpuri, Seelampur, Delhi Cantonment, and Rithala.

It was in June last year when the poll panel had said that the AAP legislators did de facto hold the office of parliamentary secretaries. A parliamentary secretary assists a minister and the office comes with perks as well as a measure of political influence. As per law, appointment of only one parliamentary secretary is permitted in Delhi. This is precisely why former chief minister Sheila Dikshit had once appointed only one parliamentary secretary. Later, she appointed two parliamentary secretaries and in her last term she appointed even a third one. No one challenged the appointment of the two additional parliamentary secretaries. However, the AAP government appointed 21 legislators as parliamentary secretaries in March 2015.

As protests over the appointments grew, the government sought to shield the MLAs by excluding the post of parliamentary secretary from the ambit of office-of-profit laws. But former President Pranab Mukherjee refused to approve it and referred a private plea in the matter to the EC. Reacting to another petition, the Delhi HC struck down the posts of parliamentary secretary in September 2015.