Congress Demands Resignation of Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi Jan 19: In a Major setback for Aam Admi Party the Election Commission today disqualified 20 AAP MLAs for holding 'office of profit'. The poll commission has sent a recommendation to President.

If president accepts the recommendation of the EC then the strength of the party in Delhi Assembly would be reduced to 47 MLA. The party had won a majority of 67 out of 70 seats in 2015 Assembly elections. A lawyer filed an application in 2015 to the President's office, questioning the appointment of AAP MLAs as parliamentary secretaries.

In 2016, Congress had filed a petition in Election Commission to seek disqualification of 21 AAP legislators. Earlier the Delhi Government had passed an amendment to the Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) Act, 1997, in June 2015 to exempt the post of parliamentary secretary from the definition of office of profit with retrospective effect.

However, former President Pranab Mukherjee declined approval to the proposed Amendment in June 2016 and the Delhi High Court set aside the order appointing the MLAs as parliamentary secretaries.

Meanwhile, congress has demanded the Resignation of Arvind Kejriwal as he has no right to continue as the chief minister.