New Delhi: Calling it “biased”, the AAP launched a fresh attack on the Election Commission (EC). The party alleged that the poll body, in collusion with the BJP government at the Centre, is trying to destabilise the Arvind Kejriwal government.
“The country’s EC, along with the PM, is conspiring to destabilise the elected government in Delhi,” AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said, adding that the party sees it as a “very dangerous sign.”
The statement came in response to a remark by SK Mendiratta, the former legal advisor to the EC, who said that the poll body did not seek his opinion before the poll panel disqualified 20 AAP MLAs for holding “office-of-profit.”
Lashing out at the poll panel, the party’s chief spokesperson further said, “Now it’s established that the EC is biased. If the advice was not taken from him (Mendiratta), it means that advice was coming from the Prime Minister’s Office.”
The AAP leader also criticised former chief Election Commissioner AK Jyoti and said that he was an IAS officer who was close to Narendra Modi when the latter was the chief minister of Gujarat. Mr Jyoti served as the principal secretary in the finance department of the Gujarat government in 2006. He became chief secretary for a term of three years (from January 2010 to January 2013).
In its order dated January 19, the EC recommended to President Ram Nath Kovind the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs for holding “office of profit.” In its opinion to the President, the poll body said that the lawmakers, by occupying the post of parliamentary secretaries between March 13, 2015, and September 8, 2016, held offices of profit and were thus liable to be disqualified as legislators.
The President, on January 23, accepted the EC’s recommendation.
The law ministry, in a notification quoting the President, said: “In light of the opinion expressed by the EC, 20 members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly have been disqualified.”
Later on March 23, the Delhi high court called the EC’s order a violation of ‘natural justice.’ The court directed the poll panel to initiate fresh hearing in the case and ordered a stay on the disqualification of the MLAs.
