Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said his lawmakers are working free of cost as parliamentary secretaries and as such hold no 'office of profit'.
Highlights
- President rejected AAP government's 'Office of Profit Bill'
- AAP MLA Praveen Kumar gives a tour of his rented house-cum office
- 21 MLAs as parliamentary secretaries appointed without pay, says AAP
Praveen Kumar, 28, offers a tour of his home, a two-bedroom apartment that he says he rents along with four friends for Rs 10,000 a month near Delhi's Jangpura area. It has no air-conditioner, no water cooler, not even a bed.
"This is my office of profit," said Mr Kumar, one of 21 Aam Aadmi Party lawmakers from Delhi whose future is uncertain after the President rejected the Arvind Kejriwal government's Office of Profit Bill.
"I have been living in this flat with four of my friends for the past four years. We have converted one room into our office and we sleep on the floor of the other. I want the BJP to see this is my office of profit, this is my fancy bungalow," Mr Kumar, a two-time legislator in the AAP government.
Praveen Kumar (extreme right) shares the rented two-room apartment with his 4 friends.
Praveen Kumar and 20 other MLAs were appointed last year as parliamentary secretaries by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal soon after his party swept the Delhi elections winning 67 of 70 seats. Two months later the Delhi government passed the bill that the President rejected on Monday; it was designed to protect the MLAs from a law that disallows elected members from drawing another salary from an "office of profit."
The President's "no" means the AAP lawmakers stand disqualified and fresh elections must be held for their seats, the BJP and the Congress have said.
A parliamentary secretary often has the rank of a minister and several states have these posts to accommodate lawmakers who could not become ministers. So Punjab has 24 parliamentary secretaries and Gujarat has five. The post in the states also comes with a good salary.
Mr Kejriwal has asked why the other state governments have not been questioned. He also said his lawmakers are working free of cost as parliamentary secretaries "looking after power supply, water supply, functioning of hospitals and schools" and as such hold no office of profit. Praveen Kumar for instance, looks after education.
"It doesn't matter whether they take the emoluments or not. The post is that of profit and earlier MPs like Jaya Bachchan had to resign in similar cases. There should be by-polls soonest possible," said the Congress' Ajay Maken.