It was celebration time on Friday afternoon at the Aam Aadmi Party's office in the capital as the Delhi High Court set aside the disqualification by the Election Commission of 20 of its MLAs from the Vidhan Sabha for holding offices of profit.
Immediately after the High Court's verdict, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, “It is triumph of truth. The elected representatives of Delhi were disqualified wrongfully. Delhi High Court has given justice to the people of Delhi.”
The chief minister has reason enough to exult, since the High Court order comes as a big boost to his government and his party, which have been going through a roller-coaster ride in Delhi.
At present, Kejriwal's decision to end cases filed against him by political rivals through the apology route has evoked mixed reactions. Also, the Delhi government is currently engaged in a major confrontation with the bureaucracy.
The AAP is relieved that the High Court has further postponed the scenario of byelections taking place in 20 constituencies. Bypolls in these constituencies would have amounted to a mini Assembly election, owing to the large number of seats involved. It would have been seen as a referendum on the governance of the Kejriwal government. The Election Commission has been asked by the court to examine the case of the 20 MLAs afresh, giving the AAP government the breathing space it needed.
“The MLAs were not given a chance to put their point, so now, the court has given them a chance to do that. The EC will hear their plea again,” said AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj.
The AAP has accused the EC of having worked in a biased manner under pressure from the Modi government. Nagender Sharma, who is media advisor to Kejriwal, tweeted after the High Court's decision: “Tight slap on Modi government appointed biased Election Commission. ALL three commissioners should resign on their own.”
Following the Election Commission's order on disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs, the party had got into election mode, sensing possible bypolls, with Kejriwal and other leaders of the AAP holding public meetings, especially in the constituencies of the disqualified legislators. The Congress and the BJP too had heightened their political activities, hoping that the bypolls would help improve their profile in Delhi.