Cong: EC helped AAP by giving recommendation after RS polls

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 20

The state unit of the Congress party said the Election Commission of India (ECI) had helped the Aam Aadmi Party by giving its recommendation to disqualify its 20 MLAs after the Rajya Sabha election.

Addressing a press conference, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Maken said this was a two years old case. Had the ECI given its recommendation before the Rajya Sabha election, AAP’s three Members of Parliament had not got elected unopposed. It seems that the ECI did this on the direction of the BJP government at the Centre, he said.

Questioning the ECI what was it doing between December 22, 2017 and January 19, 2018, Maken said according to law the Delhi Government could have only seven ministers. The Chief Minister can have only one Parliamentary Secretary.

He said appointing 21 Parliamentary Secretaries was illegal as this was office of profit and in a notification issued by the Delhi Government on March 5, 2015, had clearly mentioned that these secretaries would be given the facilities of government transport for official purposes only and office space in the minister’s office to facilitate their works.

The notification had clearly mentioned that which Parliamentary Secretary would be attached with which minister and their room numbers.

Maken said the Chief Secretary of the Delhi Government in a 40-page report submitted to the ECI in the office-of-profit case also said the Delhi Legislative Assembly on June 16, 2016, had conveyed approval of Rs 13.6 lakh for providing 21 executive tables, 21 chairs, 136 visitors’ chairs for 21 Parliamentary Secretaries. Of them Rs 11.75 lakh were spent.

MLA Adarsh Shastri was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Information and Technology. He was paid Rs 15, 479 on account of attending a conference session on empowering digital India.

BJP discusses bypolls

In the wake of the Election Commission's recommendation to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs for holding offices of profit, the state BJP has begun serious parleys on the possibility of bypolls to 20 assembly segments.

The BJP leaders discussed the issue in a meeting of the party's core committee members last night, party sources said. "The matter was discussed in detail along with other issues like the sealing drive underway in north and south Delhi," said a senior party leader who attended the meeting.

The ruling AAP had bagged an impressive 67 seats in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections. Since then, two by-elections were held in which the ruling party and the BJP got one seat each.