NEW DELHI: Indian President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday accepted the ElectionCommission’s recommendation to disqualify 20 MLAs of Delhi’s ruling AamAadmi Party (AAP) for holding offices of profit.

“Having considered the matter in the light of the opinion expressed by theElection Commission, I, Ram Nath Kovind, President of India, in theexercise of the powers. Do here hold that the aforesaid 20 members of theDelhi legislative Assembly stand disqualified from being members of thesaid Assembly,” a notification issued by the Law Ministry quoted thePresident as saying.

The 20 MLAs include, Adarsh Shastri (Dwarka), Alka Lamba (Chandni Chowk),Anil Bajpai (Gandhi Nagar), Avtar Singh (Kalkaji), Kailash Gahlot(Najafgarh) – who is also a minister – Madan Lal (Kasturba Nagar), ManojKumar (Kondli), Naresh Yadav (Mehrauli), Nitin Tyagi (Laxmi Nagar), PraveenKumar (Jangpura), Rajesh Gupta (Wazirpur), Rajesh Rishi Janakpuri), SanjeevJha (Burari), Sarita Singh (Rohtas Nagar), Som Dutt (Sadar Bazar), SharadKumar (Narela), Shiv Charan Goel (Moti Nagar), Sukhbir Singh (Mundka),Vijendar Garg (Rajinder Nagar) and Jarnail Singh (Tilak Nagar).

Reacting to the development, Delhi Minister, Gopal Rai, said, “We had hopedto go to the President asking him to give us a chance to present ourselves.Now we received this news. AAP will knock the doors of HC and even SC ifthe need be.”

In its opinion sent to President Kovind, the EC had disqualified 20 MLA forholding office of profit between March 13, 2015, and September 8, 2016,held offices of profit and were liable to be disqualified aslegislators, PTI had quoted sources as saying.

The petition before the ECI was filed by one Prashant Patel against 21 MLAswho were appointed as parliamentary secretaries by the AAP government inDelhi.