Kapil Mishra, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator from Delhi’s Karawal Nagar, was disqualified by Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Friday for campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. Mishra has announced that he would contest the “illegal” order in the high court.
Acting on a petition filed by AAP leader and MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj, the Speaker conducted a probe and disqualified Mishra under the 10th Schedule, popularly known as the anti-defection law.
The disqualification comes into effect from January 27, 2019– the day Mishra shared the stage with senior BJP leaders Vijay Goel and Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari to launch a campaign in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Karawal Nagar assembly seat has fallen vacant with the disqualification but a by-poll to elect a new MLA was unlikely said an official in the Assembly secretariat. “A by-poll will not be needed as there is less than a year to go for the assembly elections. This is according to Section 151A of Representation of the People Act, 1951,” the officer said on condition of anonymity.
Mishra said he will challenge the “undemocratic and illegal” order in the Delhi High Court on Monday. “I was given no opportunity for cross-examination, as promised. Also, I had filed a similar petition in the Assembly against chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for campaigning for other parties, but there has been no action on my complaint so far,” he said.
He went on to add that the party or the Speaker never asked him for an explanation which was against the party rules. “On what basis did the Speaker disqualify me, because as per the rules, first the party needs to summon me,” Mishra said.
