Congress asks 20 AAP MLAs to resign, face fresh elections

The Congress on Saturday demanded the resignation of 20 AAP MLAs, a day after the Election Commission rejected their plea to drop the office of profit case against them, and dared them to face the electorate again.

"The Congress demands the immediate resignation of the 20 MLAs currently facing the office of profit charge. We challenge them to face the Delhi electorate again," Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken told the media here.

"If the 20 AAP MLAs believe in ethics, they should immediately resign so that the uncertainty haunting their assembly constituencies is removed and the voters are not put to any difficulty," the Congress leader said.

He said the Election Commission has held that all 20 MLAs are liable to be prosecuted for perks and benefits they illegally received from March 13, 2015, to September 8, 2016.

Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party said these MLAs did not have the legal or moral right to stay as members of the assembly after the poll panel said that proceedings before it on the question of their disqualification over their appointment as Parliamentary Secretaries -- quashed by the Delhi High Court in September 2016 -- will continue.

The poll panel on Friday said the 21 MLAs, including Jarnail Singh who subsequently resigned his Rajouri Garden seat in January to contest the Punjab assembly elections, "did hold de facto posts of Parliamentary Secretaries from March 13, 2015, to September 8, 2016".

These legislators had urged the poll panel to drop the disqualification case as their appointments were already set aside by the Delhi High Court in September 2016.

Slamming Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Maken said: "He illegally appointed them as Parliamentary Secretaries to accord them VVIP status and facilities like car, plush office, and staff."

The former Union Minister said Kejriwal's decision was in stark contrast to the 'Aam Aadmi' ruse he used to secure votes in the Delhi assembly elections.

The Congress leader accused the AAP of delaying the matter and said: "During the course of hearing, these AAP MLAs filed five formal applications for adjournment of the matter on some pretext or the other, solely to delay the proceedings."

"One such attempt was through an application wherein they pleaded that after the High Court quashed their appointments, the proceedings before the Election Commission cannot survive," Maken said.

The Congress leader claimed that if by-elections are held in these 20 seats, the Congress will win 15.

--IANS

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