Office of profit: AAP in cahoots with BJP, alleges Congress

New Delhi [India], Jan. 21 (ANI): The Congress on Sunday suggested that there was a hidden alliance between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the disqualification of 20 MLAs was deliberately delayed on account of the same.

"The AAP has been helped by the BJP and the Election Commission of India (ECI) by delaying the decision for over three weeks. If decision would have come before December 22, these 20 MLAs would have been disqualified and the party would not have been able to send three MPs to Rajya Sabha," Congress leader Ajay Maken said while addressing a press conference here.

Twenty AAP MLAs, accused of holding the 'office of profit', were disqualified from the Delhi Assembly today after President Ram Nath Kovind approved the ECI's recommendation in the matter.

"Having considered the matter in the light of the opinion expressed by the Election Commission, I, Ram Nath Kovind, president of India, in exercise of the powers...do here hold that the aforesaid 20 members of the Delhi legislative assembly stand disqualified from being members of the said assembly," read a notification issued by the law ministry.

The ECI on Friday recommended to the president that 20 AAP MLAs should be disqualified from the assembly.

Initially, the petition was directed at 21 MLAs, but one MLA, named Jarnail Singh, resigned last year to contest in the Punjab elections. (ANI)