Manish Sisodia's open letter: Centre scared of Arvind Kejriwal's popularity

A day after President Ram Nath Kovind approved the Election Commission's recommendation to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia wrote an open letter to the citizens of the Capital and sought support against the disqualification move on charges of holding the office of profit.

In the letter tweeted by Sisodia on Monday morning, he blamed the BJP-led Centre for hampering the work of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the national Capital. He said the Centre was scared of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's rising "popularity across the country".

"They were working without getting any benefits with the passion to make a contribution to the development of the city," he wrote.

Noting that President Ram Nath Kovind has approved the Election Commission's (EC) recommendation to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs, he said this was "yet again" the Centre that was creating hindrance in the growth of Delhi.

"The MLAs were given specific responsibilities like overlooking the government schools, government hospitals, etc. They were never given any travel allowances or accommodations and they traveled to places spending their own money because they have all been activists of the (Anna) movement and are here to serve the nation. If they did not enjoy any such privileges, how did they hold the 'office of profit'?" he wrote.