New Delhi:
Lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung has reportedly recommended that the option of inviting the single largest party, the BJP, to form government in Delhi must be explored. The BJP is said to be undecided on whether it will accept as it is short on numbers. Hectic deliberations are on.
In a note to President Pranab Mukherjee, which has been forwarded to the home ministry, the Lieutenant Governor has suggested, sources said, that the BJP should be allowed to prove its majority on the floor of the assembly before a fresh election is considered.
Senior BJP leaders Nitin Gadkari and Rajnath Singh met to discuss the party's options. Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyaya, who met the party's central leaders this morning, told NDTV, "We have to analyse if we are in a position to form government."
The BJP is five legislators short of a majority and the top leadership is said to be divided on whether the party should try to make up the numbers if it is invited to form government or then decline as it did after the state elections last December.
Some party leaders have also reportedly suggested that the BJP should form government and then challenge rivals Congress and Aam Aadmi Party to bring it down. They calculate that this will win the BJP voters' sympathy for trying to give Delhi a government but being thwarted by the opposition, when fresh elections are held.
Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party has said that inviting the BJP to form government would be unconstitutional and would encourage defections. AAP's petition for fresh polls in Delhi will be heard in the Supreme Court on next Tuesday, September 9.
The Congress has also said it will firmly oppose the BJP's bid for power. "The BJP has to prove its majority on the floor of the house. There is no question of supporting them," said Delhi Congress leader Mukesh Sharma.
In a series of tweets since morning, AAP has begun a campaign against what it calls "government by chor darwaza (back door)". "The BJP wrote to the Lieutenant Governor on December 12 saying we won't form the government. It should come clean - when it lacks the numbers, why does the Lieutenant Governor need to open the back door?"questioned AAP spokesperson Ashutosh.
The BJP, with 29 legislators, is the single largest party after the Delhi assembly polls in December threw up a fractured verdict. The BJP had won 31 seats but three BJP MLAs, including its chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan, contested and won the national election in May.
After failing to cross the finishing line in the December polls, the BJP had refused to form government. AAP, with 28 legislators, then formed government with help from the Congress, which was reduced to just eight legislators after 15 years in power.
President's Rule was imposed after Mr Kejriwal's abrupt resignation just 49 days after he was sworn in as chief minister. After a poor showing in the national election, AAP has been rooting for fresh elections in Delhi, hoping to reclaim voters' goodwill. President's Rule is valid in Delhi till February next year.
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