The sudden burst in the BJP’s political activism against the Aam Aadmi Party is focused entirely on containing Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi to damage his prospects in the forthcoming assembly elections in Punjab where AAP’s popular ratings are the highest.

Besides the bid to force an election in Delhi for the 21 constituencies whose MLAs are mired in the Office-of-Profit controversy, there has been an FIR against Kejriwal and the scandal around the murder of a New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) officer which saw the BJP’s high-profile MP Mahesh Girri sitting on an indefinite fast.

AAP is likely to be hemmed in if the Election Commission disqualifies its 21 MLAs who, as things stand today, occupy an Office of Profit. The bill related to exempting their office from the Office-of-Profit criteria had been pending with the Centre for a year before it was rejected by the President. The disqualification of these MLAs will precipitate an election for these seats in Delhi around the same time that elections are due in Punjab.

Interestingly, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and BJP’s alliance government in Punjab have recently appointed seven more Chief Parliamentary Secretaries, the same post for which AAP MLAs are sought to be disqualified in Delhi. BJP in Punjab has 12 MLAs of which four are Cabinet Ministers, two others are state ministers and five are Chief Parliamentary Secretaries.

Speaking to BusinessLine over phone from Chandigarh, Additional Solicitor General and senior BJP leader from Punjab Satyapal Jain said there is absolutely no contradiction in the party’s stand on the Office-of-Profit controversy.

“In Punjab, there is an act exempting the post of Chief Parliamentary Secretary from Office of Profit. However, even that is being challenged in the High Court. My stand has always been that it is an unconstitutional provision allowing legislators backdoor entry into the Cabinet which can only have restricted number of members,” said Jain.

Jain denied that the BJP’s opposition to AAP MLAs occupying Office of Profit is linked to the Punjab elections. “Our party has taken a principled position against this provision. This is unconstitutional and we are opposed to it,” said Jain.

AAP, at the same time, is clear that this is part of the BJP’s “containment plan”. Speaking to BusinessLine, a senior AAP leader said, “If the BJP thinks they can confine us to Delhi by these perverted plans, they are mistaken. As things stand today, AAP is the most popular party in Punjab, Goa and Delhi. And if we have to face an election simultaneously in all three States, we are ready.”

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