New Delhi: Facing the prospect of losing 20 of its MLAs in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday said the Election Commission’s recommendation to disqualify them was ‘unconstitutional’ and appealed to President Ram Nath Kovind to let them explain their stand.
Senior party leader and deputy Delhi CM Manish Sisodia said the legislators will meet the President and present evidence to support their case. “There was no hearing, we were not given a chance to explain our stand. We appeal to the President to hear our view too. MLAs will meet the President also,” he said after a meeting of the MLAs with Arvind Kejriwal.
On Friday, the EC had recommended to President Kovind to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs for holding offices of profit as parliamentary secretaries. The President is bound to act in accordance with the poll panel's recommendation.
Sisodia also alleged that his government is being deliberately targeted for the "honest work" they have been doing in the capital city.
The AAP attacked the Election Commission's decision and said it was its chief Achal Kumar Joti's parting gift to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"The disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs was his gift to Modi. What is the reason for this gift? Why it has been given? Aam Aadmi Party and the country want to know this," senior AAP leader Gopal Rai said.
"Everyone in the country has only one question on their mind: What was the compulsion for him to take the decision with only two days to retire," Rai asked. He said that Joti was the principal secretary in Gujarat when Modi was the state's Chief Minister and he was Modi's closest officer.
The AAP leader also rubbished claims that the AAP MLAs were given multiple chances to appear before the EC and said that lies were being spread in the media. Rai said that all notices given by the EC were replied by AAP's lawyers and added that even during the the British rule, people were heard before giving punishments.
Holding out a purported order from the EC, Rai said that the EC had not given a date of hearing for the AAP MLAs, after March 13, 2017.
The EC gave its opinion to the President on a complaint by advocate Prashant Patel, a member of the Hindu Legal Cell, in June 2015, who petitioned then President Pranab Mukherjee alleging illegality in the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries.
The decision led to calls by the Congress and BJP - who have been demanding the disqualification - for Kejriwal's resignation. Later on Friday, the Delhi High Court refused to grant interim relief to AAP MLAs against the Election Commission's recommendation.
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