Delhi stares at President’s rule as BJP, AAP refuse to stake claim
Arvind Kejriwal emerged the giant killer defeating three-time chief minister Sheila Dikshit by a huge margin
New Delhi: The suspense over government formation
in Delhi persisted on Monday after both the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), which emerged as the single largest party in the 70-member
assembly, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said they will not stake a claim
for governing the national capital.
Each asked the other party to bid for coming to office after neither
emerged with a clear majority from the 4 December election in which the
Congress party was routed.
“We are not going to form the government. We will sit in the opposition and play the role of a constructive opposition,” said Yogendra Yadav, a leader of the AAP, which made a stunning electoral debut in the elections which ended the Congress’s three-term rule.
“As per the Constitution, the largest party has to take
the responsibility of forming government,” Yadav said. “We have not got
majority so it is very surprising that the number one party (BJP) is not
ready to form the government and telling us to do so.” He added that
even if the party is called by the lieutenant governor to form the
government, it would decline on the grounds that it does not have a
majority.
The BJP won 31 seats in the assembly followed by the AAP
with 28. The Congress was reduced to just eight seats. The BJP’s ally
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) won one seat, but that still leave the main
national opposition party four seats short of a simple majority.
The BJP’s hesitancy possibly stems from a desire not to
be seen as being over-eager for power after three terms in the Delhi
opposition. It doesn’t want to seek alliance partners for short-term
gains but wants a clear mandate from the voters, party leaders say.
Leaders of the party believe the BJP has a good chance of
winning at least a simple majority in Delhi in the event of a
re-election. The party’s electoral analysis shows it can win at least
five additional seats where its candidates lost by thin margins.
The seats are Delhi Cantonment, Vikaspuri, Sangam Vihar,
Madipur and Sadar Bazaar, where the BJP candidates lost by 355 votes,
405 votes, 777 votes, 1,104 votes and 796 votes, respectively in close
contests with the AAP.
“We will not approach the lieutenant governor to stake
claim to form the government. BJP and our allies together have 32 seats
in the assembly. If BJP gets support in a democratic process then we
will form the government or else we will sit in the opposition,” said Nitin Gadkari, former BJP president who is in-charge of the party in Delhi.
BJP leaders, along with its chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan
and elected members of legislative assembly (MLAs), met on Monday
morning to discuss the future course of the party. Another meeting will
be held on Tuesday morning at the residence of Gadkari.
“The people of Delhi have made BJP the single largest
party but the fact is that we don’t have the required number. We respect
the decision of the people...There is no reason for BJP to allow any
political party to accuse us of any wrongdoing,” said a leader who
attended Monday’s meeting. He spoke on condition of anonymity.
Political experts say the lieutenant governor should call
the heads of all the three parties—Congress, BJP and AAP—to discuss
possible options.
“The lieutenant governor has individually met some
leaders; instead of doing that he should meet all of them together and
ask them if they want President’s rule or they want a re-election,” said
N. Bhaskara Rao,
political analyst and founder-chairman of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS). Meanwhile, AAP leaders met at the residence of Arvind Kejriwal, the national convener of the party, who defeated three-time chief minister Sheila Dikshit
in the New Delhi constituency. The AAP is open to the idea of a
re-election, having ruled out joining hands with either the Congress or
the BJP to come to power.
“This is the mandate people have given. We go back to the
people,” Kejriwal said on Sunday when asked what would transpire if the
BJP failed to form a government.
No comments:
Post a Comment