Delhi Congress to contest EC notice on OoP

New Delhi, Jun 19: Delhi's ruling Congress has decided to contest an Election Commission notice asking why 19 party MLAs should not be disqualified for holding offices of profit.

''We shall send our reply (to the EC) tomorrow saying these are not offices of profit. The BJP MLA's complaint to the EC itself was wrong,'' state unit party chief Ram Babu Sharma told sources here.

The DPCC chief had discussed the issue with legal experts last week. Party sources said separately that the dominant view among them as well as the MLAs was that the ''political complaint'' should be challenged while not foreclosing other options.

This was necessary more so because the President had returned to Parliament a central Bill on which the Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) (Amendment) Bill, 2006, was patterned. The Bill was passed last month.

''These offices do not even have peons. How can one call them offices of profit,'' Mr Sharma argued.

The Delhi BJP had sought the Delhi Chief Minister's resignation and fresh polls to the Assembly saying the Sheila Dikshit government would be reduced to a minority if the 19 MLAs are disqualified for holding offices of profit.

The EC notice to the Congress MLAs came in the wake of a complaint by BJP MLA Vijay Jolly.

UNI