BackNarendra Modi blocking development in Delhi, alleges Arvind Kejriwal
Arvind Kejriwal's attack comes a day after President Pranab Mukherjee declined to give his assent to a bill backing 21 parliamentary secretaries
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New Delhi: A day after President Pranab Mukherjee refused to give his assent to a bill passed by the Delhi government, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi of attempting to block development in the national capital through such a move.
The bill, passed by the state assembly in June 2015, was aimed at protecting 21 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators who were appointed as parliamentary secretaries from the prospect of disqualification by excluding the post from office of profit.
“Narendra Modiji is after our MLAs to get them disqualified. Nor does he want to work or let us work. If all these people are disqualified and made to sit at home, what is Modiji getting out of this?" Kejriwal told reporters on Tuesday.
“Haryana, Nagaland, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Pondicherry, West Bengal all have parliamentary secretaries. Even after this, Modiji is after or MLAs only to disqualify our parliamentary secretaries. If there is a problem, disqualify all of them. Narendra Modiji is scared of the AAP. He is no longer scared of the Congress," he added.
Kejriwal alleged that the decision was taken by the ministry of home affairs and the file may not even have reached the President.
Justifying the government’s decision to appoint 21 MLAs as parliamentary secretaries, Kejriwal said, “We felt that the skills of certain MLAs can be used for additional responsibilities. They were given different responsibilities but were not being given any compensation. They are being made to work for free."
“The notification says that parliamentary secretaries will not be eligible for any remuneration or perks of any kind from the government. They are not getting a salary, perks or facility. If an MLA is working for free for schools, hospitals, water, roads, electricity, then what problem does Modiji have with that?" he added.
The matter is currently under consideration by the Election Commission, which had sent a notice to the 21 AAP MLAs in April.
The EC had asked the MLAs to explain why their appointment as parliamentary secretaries should not fall under the office of profit and why their legislative assembly membership should not be cancelled.
In response, the MLAs have sought a hearing with the election watchdog.
“We are already looking at that case. We may have a hearing on it soon, possibly within a month. Only after that will we take a final decision on the issue," a senior EC official said, requesting anonymity.
Addressing a press meet, senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said that the EC will have a final word on disqualification.
“The Delhi government has sent 17 bills that have been passed but not one has been signed as yet," he added.
Opposition parties, too, criticized the Delhi government.
“This is an open and shut case. The Election Commission must take a final call on the disqualification issue at the earliest. The appointment of 21 parliament secretaries is illegal as the prescribed limit for such an appointment in Delhi is only one parliament secretary," Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson and member of Parliament Meenakshi Lekhi said in a statement.
She added that there were many instances in the past, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Jaya Bachchan and two members of the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly, who have been disqualified following allegations of holding offices of profit.
Congress party spokesman P.L. Punia said Kejriwal should resign and take moral responsibility, alleging that he was making false claims over the issue and the AAP MLAs should be disqualified.
Mint’s Anuja and PTI contributed to this story.
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