Delhi’s transport minister Gopal Rai resigned on Tuesday citing bad health.
Sreekanth A. Nair
In a major setback to the Aam Admi Party (AAP) government of Delhi, President Pranab Mukherjee rejected a bill passed by the Delhi legislative assembly to exempt the parliamentary secretary from the definition of office of profit, reported The Indian Express.
The amendment on ‘office of profit’ was initiated to save 21 MLAs of the party, who were appointed as parliamentary secretaries, from disqualification on the grounds of holding dual position while being an elected legislator. According to the constitution of India, an elected member cannot hold an office of profit.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led government had appointed 21 MLAs of AAP as parliamentary secretaries to the Chief Minister last year. Then the government amended the law to give exemption to the MLAs with retrospective effect.
The AAP came under severe criticism from both the BJP and the Congress following the rejection of the president. While Arvind Kejriwal came up defending the government saying that the MLAs were not paid even a single rupee and they were working without accepting any benefit from the government, the BJP on Tuesday released a document from a Right To Information (RTI) application showing that the MLAs were allotted separate rooms as an office.
Now it is the turn of the Election Commission of India to decide whether the MLAs should be disqualified for holding a position in the office of profit. The president has referred the issue to the Election Commission. The EC has sent letters to the MLAs seeking their explanation on the issue.
The commission will be holding a hearing for the MLAs to explain their part and the final decision will be taken after that. The Indian Express reported that the legislators have submitted a reply from the general administration department of the Delhi government citing that the government had not spent any money for the secretaries.
Reacting on the refusal of the president, Arvind Kejriwal said that the Central Home Ministry was behind the move. He alleged that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was fearful of the AAP and he does not respect democracy.
“Modiji says all of you should sit at home and not work,” he tweeted.
In another development, Delhi’s transport minister Gopal Rai resigned on Tuesday citing bad health. He has been facing allegations of corruption following the decision of the transport department to a premium app-based bus service in Delhi.
Recently he had undergone a surgery to remove a bullet from his neck that had been lodged in his body for 17 years.
Arvind Kejriwal gave Rai’s portfolio to Health and PWD Minister Satyendar Jain. Rai now holds departments of Labour, Irrigation, and Flood Control department, the General Administration Department and the Development and Employment department.