Bill and complaint to election commission unrelated: AAP

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was spreading rumours that the rejection of the bill by the President automatically

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was spreading rumours that the rejection of the bill by the President automatically meant the disqualification of the 21 MLAs appointed as parliamentary secretaries by the Delhi government.

HT Image

The party claimed that a sense of paranoia was being spread by BJP.

AAP leader Ashutosh claimed the Delhi parliament secretaries do not get any financial benefits and rumours were being spread by the BJP. “There are efforts to destabilise the government and create panic in Delhi. The Delhi government in its notification made it clear that there would be no perks. A car, only for official purposes, and space in a minister’s office were allowed,” he said.

According to senior AAP leaders, the effort to tie the matter of the bill to that of the disqualification, strictly speaking, was wrong.

Both the BJP and Congress alleged that AAP brought in the bill to give legitimacy to the 21 parliamentary secretaries. The government’s contention, however, is that they do not need to do this as the MLAs are not holding an office of profit.

“Theoretically, if the bill would have been passed, the discussion around giving parliamentary secretaries any benefits could have taken place. When the MLAs are not getting any benefit, where does the question of giving them legitimacy arise from,” said a senior official.

The party maintains that the 21 were appointed as per a gover nment order which clearly stated they will not be entitled to any perks. They were only allowed a vehicle for official work and a space inside a minister’s office. This does not constitute ‘office of profit’ as it is not a pecuniary benefit, leaders say.

“It is the Election Commission that will decide what happens to the MLAs. The rejection of the bill has no bearing on that. The MLAs will be given a hearing and only then will a decision be taken by the election commission,” the official said.