MLAs as parl secys in other states should be disqualified: Sisodia to Prez

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday urged President Pranab Mukherjee to disqualify the MLAs in various states appointed as parliamentary secretaries and holding “office of profit”. 

Sisodia led a delegation of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including Gopal Rai and Ashutosh, to the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the evening. He complained to the President about the “illegally appointed” parliamentary secretaries in some states, including Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

After meeting the President, Sisodia told reporters that Chief Ministers in Haryana, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh had administered oath to MLAs as chief parliamentary secretaries/parliamentary secretaries and provided them “pecuniary benefits”, which is in violation to the spirit of the Constitution.

He alleged that crores of rupees were being spent on these parliamentary secretaries, which was against the Constitution.

“These parliamentary secretaries are getting salaries, allotted VIP vehicles and other perks, for which ministers in these states are entitled. These parliamentary secretaries are given the rank of Deputy Minister, which implies that these MLAs hold an office of profit,” Sisodia argued.

“We have complained about these illegally appointed parliamentary secretaries in these four states. We requested the President to immediately disqualify them,” Sisodia said. He clarified that the AAP government had not provided any kind of “pecuniary benefit” to the 21 MLAs who were appointed parliamentary secretaries in Delhi.