Citing precedents, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday strongly defended the appointment of 21 parliamentary secretaries, wondering how similar posts under Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party rule were not considered ‘unconstitutional’ and targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue.
The chief minister dug out appointments of parliamentary secretaries by the Congress and the BJP governments in the national capital in the past and said many of them including Ajay Maken, who had held the post, even had his own staff and access to important official files.
“I want to request Modiji with folded hands not to trouble the people of Delhi. Your fight is with me. Beat me or take as much revenge as you want against me. But do not try to stop good work in Delhi which is being praised world-wide including by the United Nations,” Kejriwal told a press conference.
In 1953, he said, Delhi had three parliamentary secretaries – H K L Bhagat, Kumari Shanta Vasisth and Shiv Charan Dasgupta while governments headed by BJP’s Sahib Singh Verma and Congress’ Sheila Dikshit appointed a number of members of the legislative assembly to the posts.
“Then it was constitutional and when we do it, it turns out to be unconstitutional. What is this, if not double standards?” Kejriwal asked and went on to assert that the 21 parliamentary secretaries are ‘eyes, ears and hands’ of the Aam Aadmi Party government who have been tasked with important duties.
“They are highly qualified people in different fields, starting from MBA (master of business administration) to engineering and not illiterates like in other parties. Mohalla Clinics are product of their hard work so is the mapping of schools,” said Kejriwal.
Reacting to Kejriwal’s assertion, Dikshit wondered whether the Delhi CM was implying that the President is ‘also hostile’ to him.
Maken, in his reaction, said appointing 21 MLAs to the posts was unprecedented and Kejriwal cannot hide behind a few appointments in the past.
The fate of 21 AAP MLAs, appointed as parliamentary secretaries, hangs in balance after President Pranab Mukherjee refused to give his assent to a bill passed by the Delhi assembly last year seeking amendment to the existing law to insulate the legislators from the purview of the office of profit law.
The Election Commission is currently examining petitions seeking disqualification of the legislators. The Commission had sought replies from the MLAs in question.
In their defence, some of the MLAs are known to have conveyed to the EC that they were acting like interns in assisting the ministers in various works of the government.
When asked to respond, AAP’s Delhi convener Dilip Pandey said their submissions have taken into account the moral, ethical and legal aspects and there should not be any room for doubt that they were acting as parliamentary secretaries.
Fresh elections will have to be held if the 21 MLAs are disqualified on the ground of holding office of profit. The AAP has 67 MLAs in the 70-member assembly. The remaining three are BJP legislators.
Meanwhile, the Congress stepped up its demand for disqualification of the 21 AAP MLAs and said not receiving salary alone did not shield them against provisions of ‘office of profit’ law.
“(The) AAP has cried hoarse saying that these 21 MLAs/ parliamentary secretaries received no salaries. As they clamber to save themselves, it appears (the) AAP have not bothered to read Supreme Court’s judgements which have clearly stated that ‘office of profit’ is not deemed by salary alone,” the party said in a commentary.
In the commentary posted on its website, the All India Congress Committee insisted that the office of profit is determined by perks too.
“It is determined by perks, which undoubtedly these 21 MLAs were enjoying under Kejriwal’s government and at the cost of the Delhi tax-payer,” it said in the commentary titled ‘Kejriwal has the ‘Office’, AAP MLAs enjoy the ‘Profits’”.
The party said that after winning 67 seats in the Delhi assembly, Kejriwal had to accommodate many party colleagues in ‘positions of power’.
Delhi BJP leader Vijender Gupta said the 21 MLAs must quit.
The AAP termed as ‘purely political’ the refusal of assent to the bill by the President, saying it was part of the BJP’s ploy to trouble the Delhi government as Modi was ‘scared’ of Kejriwal.
The party told a news conference that the President’s decision, ‘based on the Centre’s recommendation’, was not on technical grounds ‘as being projected’ as the BJP and the Congress too had appointed their lawmakers as parliamentary secretaries in Delhi and other states.
The Delhi government released an order dated May 7, 1997 through which the then BJP government under Sahib Singh had appointed Nand Kishore Garg as parliamentary secretary, AAP said and accused the ruling party at the Centre of ‘doublespeak’.
Kejriwal tweeted, ‘Modi is only scared of AAP. He sees AAP everywhere - in the morning, evening, during daytime and in night (sic).’
Pandey claimed that earlier Supreme Court orders ‘make it clear’ that a post will be considered office of profit only if monetary gains are involved and that AAP's parliamentary secretaries never drew salaries or allowances.
