NEW DELHI, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- As many as 20 lawmakers of India's anti-graft Aam Aadmi Party face exit from Delhi assembly as the Election Commission has recommended their disqualification over holding of offices of profit as parliamentary secretaries, sources said Friday.
"The Election Commission's recommendation against the 20 legislators, who were appointed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as parliamentary secretaries soon after the party came to power in the national capital in 2015, has been forwarded to the president," sources said.
However, if the 20 lawmakers are disqualified from the Delhi assembly, it will not pose a threat to the Aam Aadmi Party government as the party has 65 seats in the 70-member house. But by-election will have be held in all the seats within six months of their disqualification.
Parliamentary secretaries are usually appointed by a government to provide assistance to ministers, and the office comes with perks apart from some political power. Often lawmakers who fail to get ministerial portfolios in a government are accommodated as parliamentary secretaries.
Neither the Aam Aadmi Party nor its chief Kejriwal, a former civil servant-turned-politician, has commented on the development. "There has been no official communication to us as of now from the Election Commission on this," a party leader said.
