New Delhi, March 28: A petition was filed today before President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam seeking disqualification of 19 Congress MLAs of the Delhi Assembly and Congress MP from Outer Delhi Sajjan Kumar on the grounds that they were holding offices of profit in the Delhi government.

BJP MLA from Saket Vijay Jolly submitted the 31-page petition seeking the disqualification of 19 MLAs of the Delhi House. The 70 member Delhi Assembly has 48 Congress MLAs, 19 BJP MLAs and one MLA each of the Nationalist Congress Party and the Janata Dal as well as an Independent.

Any move to disqualify the MLAs could throw the Delhi Assembly into turmoil.

In the petition, Jolly has alleged that the Delhi government has set up a two-tier structure consisting of an apex committee at the government level and nine district development committees. “The MLAs nominated as chairpersons of these committees receive substantial salaries, allowances, government vehicles and incur huge expenditure running into crores of rupees while holding office under the Delhi government,” Jolly said.

As the size of the Delhi cabinet is limited to seven ministers, the MLAs are often accommodated with chairmanship of the various boards of corporations under the Delhi government and district development committees. These are equivalent to ministerial berths.

While no salary or allowances are paid for attending meetings, they are given a car, office and staff.

Jolly has sought the disqualification of Sajjan Kumar, though he has already resigned from the post of chairman of the Delhi rural development committee.