Arvind Kejriwal urges PM to ‘spare’ people of Delhi

Criticising the Centre over the latest row on parliamentary secretaries, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to not let people suffer because of the issue. Citing past precedents, Mr Kejriwal accused the BJP and the Congress of adopting double standards on the issue of parliamentary secretaries, saying it was “legal” when they did it, but “illegal” when his government was involved.

Folding his hands literally, the Delhi chief minister said, “I request Modiji, your fight is with me. Beat me if you wish, do whatever you want to me, but do not harass the people of Delhi. Do not try to stop the good work being done in Delhi.”

The Aam Aadmi Party supremo said that the 21 MLAs appointed as parliamentary secretaries have been tasked with important duties by the Delhi government and they were its “eyes, ears and hands.” Strongly defending their appointment, he said, “It is with their help that our government is functioning. These parliamentary secretaries put in a lot of effort behind all the development work we do.” He also wondered why the BJP and the Congress were questioning his government for appointing MLAs as parliamentary secretaries when they themselves had appointed them during the tenure of their governments.

The chief minister said that former chief minister, Sahib Singh Verma had appointed a legislator, Nand Kishore Garg, as parliamentary secretary in 1997. “It is okay when the BJP does it. But when the AAP does it, it becomes unconstitutional,” he alleged. He added that his predecessor Sheila Dikshit had appointed Ajay Maken as her parliamentary secretary. Reiterating that these 21 MLAs are not being paid for extra work they do, Mr Kejriwal said that after taking power in February 2015, he decided to ask some of his legislators, who included doctors and engineers, to work as parliamentary secretaries. The chief minister left the press conference after making his statement.

Mr Kejriwal’s outburst came after President Pranab Mukherjee rejected a proposed legislation by the Delhi government to exempt the post of parliamentary secretary from the purview of “office-of-profit.” This triggered the Congress and BJP criticism of the Kejriwal government amid reports that the 21 legislators face disqualification for holding the parliamentary secretary posts. The President’s approval would have validated the appointments by the city government.

Reacting to the CM’s assertion, Ms Dikshit wondered whether the Delhi chief minister was implying that the President is “also hostile” to him.

Mr Maken, in his reaction, said appointing 21 MLAs to the posts was unprecedented and Mr Kejriwal cannot hide behind a few appointments in the past.

“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 has not bothered to read the Supreme Court’s judgments which have clearly stated that office of profit is not deemed by salary alone,” the Delhi Congress said in a statement.