What next? By-poll or stay order, time will tell

NEW DELHI: The disqualification of 20 MLAs of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party of Delhi by the Election Commission, came as a shocker to its leader. According to the reports, the EC has sent the recommendations to President Ram Nath Kovind for the approval. If the President approves the disqualification then the Capital will have to go for a by-election in all these 20 seats.

The EC should also send the same recommendation to the speaker of the Delhi legislative assembly. "The Speaker will have to declare those 20 seats void and vacant. Following this, the EC will be given six months to organize by-elections for these seats," said a senior leader.

With the disqualification, the number of AAP MLAs will become 46 and the party can continue to stay in power. The AAP has moved the Delhi High Court for the stay order and then in future, if needed they can move Supreme Court. "By-election in 20 seats will be like a mini-election and for a party like us it will be tough to manage everything within such a small time frame," said a leader. AAP already suffered a big emotional setback last year in March when it was crushed in Delhi's civic body elections. The BJP retained control over the Capital's three corporations and won 182 wards across Delhi.

According to the sources, party supremo Arvind Kejriwal has called a high-level meeting on Saturday where all the senior leaders will be present. The party will also seek legal help from the experts. Various political parties like Trinamool Congress has announced support to the party. "Our primary focus is to fight the legal battle and not a political battle. But if we are forced to fight the political battle as a vendetta against the other parties then we are ready to do so," said a leader.

In August 2017, the MLAs appealed to the Delhi High Court asking it to not allow the EC taking up the Delhi lawyer's petition. They argued that their appointments to the post of parliamentary secretary were already quashed, in 2016. In turn, the Delhi High Court said it couldn't accept the MLAs' plea because the EC hadn't at the time begun to hear the issue.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court on Friday took note of the petition filed by the AAP MLAs challenging the recommendation of the Election Commission for disqualifying 20 of them as legislators for holding the office of profit. The court asked the counsel for the poll panel to appraise it urgently whether any such recommendation has been made to the President by the Election Commission. The counsel sought time to get information as he was "unable to contact the poll panel due to the late hour."