NEW DELHI: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and party MLA from Saket in the Capital, Vijay Jolly, on Tuesday filed a complaint with President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam seeking disqualification of 18 Congress MLAs and one Member of Parliament from Delhi "for holding offices of profit and benefiting from their appointments to various boards and corporations".

In his 31-page petition to Dr. Kalam submitted at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Mr. Jolly stated that under Article 191 (1) (a) of the Constitution these MLAs invite disqualification because of their appointments and for holding offices of profit under the Delhi Government.

He alleged that in order to subvert the Constitutional provisions, the Delhi Government had set up a two-tier structure consisting of an apex committee at the Delhi Government level and nine District Development Committees (DDC). The nominated MLAs on such committees received salaries, allowances, use of Government vehicles and incurred huge expenditure running into crores of rupees while holding offices of profit.

Prominent among the MLAs who have been named in the disqualification petition include the Chief Minister's Parliamentary Secretary, Nasib Singh, Trans-Yamuna Board Chairman Narendra Nath, Delhi Jal Board Vice-Chairperson and Central Zone District Development Committee Chairperson Anjali Rai, Delhi Wakf Board Chairman Mateen Ahmed, former Rural Development Board Chairman and sitting Lok Sabha MP Sajjan Kumar.

The nine DDC chairmen include Rajesh Jain, Brahmpal, Ashok Ahuja, Kanwar Karan Singh, Balram Singh Tanwar, Rajesh Lilothia, Vijay Lochav, Vir Singh Dhingan and Anjali Rai. The petition also names MLAs who held these positions in 2004 including Mahabal Mishra, Bhisham Sharma, Kiran Walia, Bijender Singh, Amrish Gautam, Praladh Singh Sawhney and Tajdar Babbar.

Mr. Jolly said the Delhi Government exercised full control over these posts and hence these were offices of profit. He said all the MLAs who previously held the posts including a sitting MP and those currently holding them are liable for disqualification under the law. "No proper legal sanction exists for these posts and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was using these positions to buy peace with the party MLAs by rewarding them with such positions,'' he told a crowded press conference here.

Strongly opposing the move to bring in a backdated legislation to tide over the present crisis, Mr. Jolly said it had exposed the tall claims of the Delhi Government and the Chief Minister. "The Chief Minister and the Congress have lost the high moral ground and they all stand exposed. They should rather follow their leader Sonia Gandhi and submit their resignations from the Delhi Assembly lest they are disqualified.''

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