Parliamentary secretary was Congress' idea, AAP pays price, BJP's in a fix

If Congress is successful in getting BJP's 11 secretaries in Chhattisgarh disqualified, Ram Singh's govt will become a minority and may have to relinquish power

The concept of a parliamentary secretary that has taken a toll on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and put Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a spot, was originally introduced by the Congress way back in the 1960s, in undivided Madhya Pradesh. It did this by appointing the first parliamentary secretary in 1967, when it was in power in that state. What's more, it was this very party that appoint Parliamentary Secretaries (a post equivalent to state minister) in Delhi.

“It was during the tenure of D P Mishra as chief minister (of undivided Madhya Pradesh), that senior Congress MLA Rajendra Prasad Shukla was appointed as the first parliamentary secretary,” said Virendra Pandey, who was parliamentary secretary during Janata Party government in 1977.

Parliamentary secretaries were earlier appointed to assist the chief minister or senior ministers. Today however, they are are appointed to compensate the loss incurred after the 91st Amendment to the Constitution, which limits the size of the Council of Ministers at the Centre and the States to no more than 15 per cent of the numbers in the Lok Sabha or the State Legislature.

The erstwhile Congress-led government in Madhya Pradesh had formally enacted a law that empowers the the state administration to appoint parliamentary secretaries and declare that the post is not for profit. The Act had come as a breather for the Chhattisgarh government, which has as many as 11 parliamentary secretaries.

“The appointment is legal and the government has acted within the framework of the Act,” BJP spokesperson Sacchidanand Upasne says. The matter is pending for final judgment in the Chhattisgarh High Court, after Congress leaders filed a petition challenging the appointment.

AICC spokesman Mohmmad Akbar, who is one of the petitioners, said he had moved the Election Commission seeking the disqualification of 11 BJP legislators for allegedly holding an office-of-profit. But the Governor did not take action and did not forward the complaint of the Congress to the commission, he added.

Akbar said that in 1967, the situation was different, indicating that such appointments were necessary at that time. While the Congress is crying foul, the BJP is in a catch-22 situation in Chhattisgarh, as it has been pushing for the disqualification of the 20 AAP legislators in Delhi.

If the Delhi decision is repeated in Chhattisgarh, the BJP government will have to step down and it will become a minority. In the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly, the saffron party has 49 MLAs compared with Congress' 39. In case its 11 MLAs are disqualified, the Raman Singh government will be down to 38 MLAs, which is below the magic figure of 46.