Reading Time: 4 minutes
The massive majority that the APP carved up in 2015 was widely seen as an expression of the disenchantment with the established political parties, the Congress and the BJP. These two parties have remained relentless in their opposition to the AAP; perhaps the AAP too, disappointed all those who had high hopes for the new party. A report for Different Truths.
Meanwhile, the court summoned the entire set of records pertaining to the recommendation of the EC for 20 MLAs disqualification which received the President’s assent on January 20.
The promptness with which the President, perhaps at the bidding of the Modi government, endorsed the Election Commission’s opinion that 20 AAP MLAs stand disqualified for holding “an office of profit”, carries with it a distinct odour of political maliciousness. The Election Commission and its chief AK Joti have, once again, left itself open to a charge of unfairness, if not an outright partnership, when it decreed the 20 MLAs as guilty, without giving them a hearing, in total disregard of its own June 23, 2017, speaking order.
The 20 MLAs are in a soup because they were appointed as Parliamentary Secretaries, a device used by all political parties to get around the constitutional ceiling on the number of ministers as a percentage of the total strength of the assembly in a state. The ceiling has been unevenly observed. Parliamentary secretaries’ appointments had been stuck down in Himachal Pradesh (2005), Goa (2009), West Bengal and Telangana (2015).
In a number of states, the law has been amended to exempt the position of parliamentary secretary from the ‘office of profit’ clause, but this precaution was not operative in Delhi. The APP leadership was careless towards the established procedures. An amendment to the Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) Act, 1997, which sought an exemption, did not receive presidential assent and thus 20 MLAs remained vulnerable to disqualification.
The AAP government faces no threat to its parliamentary majority. If the party does not get relief from the higher judiciary, the Kejriwal regime will find itself subjected to a substantive referendum in 20 Assembly constituencies. The massive majority that the APP carved up in 2015 was widely seen as an expression of the disenchantment with the established political parties, the Congress and the BJP. These two parties have remained relentless in their opposition to the AAP; perhaps the AAP too, disappointed all those who had high hopes for the new party. But its political stupidities cannot be seen as a license of misuse of constitutional muscle by its rival.
Whether or not EC’s decision is in accordance with the spirit of the law is a matter for the courts to decide. But beyond the immediate debate, there is a larger question at hand over two constitutional principles that have played out at regular intervals in Delhi since 2015; the letter of law and the role of the elected legislature. In most other states, an act by the legislature would have resolved the “office of profit” issue.
It will be Rawat’s primary task to recover the lost ground. He has the reputation of being a man of great integrity and rectitude, someone who can be entrusted to perform well the task of presiding over the Nirvachan Sadan. On his watch, Assembly elections will be held in Northeast, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh. Since TN Seshan’s day, Nirvachan Sadan has transformed itself into a formidable constitutional watchdog; so much so, that no Chief Election Commissioner has tried to dilute the Nirvachan Sadan’s autonomy— that is till AK Joti tried to write a different script.
Harihar Swarup
©IPA Service
Photos from the Internet
#AAP #Congress #BJP #ChiefElectionCommissioner #Chattisgarh #Rajasthan #MadhyaPradesh #Northeast #Karnataka #AssemblyElections #NirvachanSadan #Gujarat #PoliticalParties #IndianPolitics #GovernmentInIndia #MLA #IPA #DifferentTruths