Delhi BJP discusses by polls to 20 Assembly seats

New Delhi: The Delhi BJP has begun serious parleys on the possibility of by polls to 20 assembly segments after the Election Commission’s recommendation to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs for holding offices of profit.

The BJP leaders discussed the issue in a meeting of the party’s core committee members last night, party sources said.

“The matter was discussed in detail along with other issues like the sealing drive underway in north and south Delhi,” said a senior party leader who attended the meeting.

The ruling AAP had bagged an impressive 67 seats in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections. Since then, two by-elections were held in which the ruling party and the BJP got one seat each.

“The BJP feels that the Election Commission’s recommendation for disqualifying 20 AAP MLAs is an opportunity to weaken the ruling party’s stranglehold in the Assembly,” the party leader said.

In a blow to the Aam Aadmi Party, the Election Commission had yesterday asked President Ram Nath Kovind to disqualify 20 of its MLAs for holding offices of profit, setting the stage for their ouster from the Assembly.

In its opinion sent to the president, the poll panel said the MLAs, by occupying the post of parliamentary secretaries between March 13, 2015 and September 8, 2016, held offices of profit, and were liable to be disqualified as legislators, highly-placed sources said.