Manish Sisodia seeks public support against disqualification of MLAs, says Centre scared of Arvind Kejriwal's rising popularity

New Delhi: Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, in an open letter to the people of the city, on Monday sought support against the disqualification of 20 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs on charges of holding “office of profit”. In the letter tweeted by Sisodia, he blamed the BJP-led Central government for hampering the work of the ruling AAP in the city.

दिल्ली की जनता के लिए मेरा एक पत्र

क्या चुने हुए विधायकों को इस तरह गैर-संवैधानिक और गैर-कानूनी तरीके से बर्खास्त करना सही है?

क्या दिल्ली को इस तरह चुनावों में धकेलना ठीक है?

क्या ये गंदी राजनीति नहीं है? pic.twitter.com/9QzU52bTay

— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) January 22, 2018

He said the Centre was scared of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s rising “popularity across the country”. Noting that President Ram Nath Kovind has approved the Election Commission’s recommendation to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs, he said this was “yet again” the Centre that was creating hindrance in the growth of Delhi. Sisodia said that the charges based on the “office of profit” against these MLAs were “false” as they “were not given any government vehicles, bungalows or salary”. “They were working without getting any benefits with the passion to make a contribution to the development of the city,” he wrote. He added that the BJP has put a “full stop” to the growth of Delhi by “imposing” elections for these 20 Vidhan Sabha seats. Public money would be “unnecessarily” wasted to conduct them, he wrote.