New Delhi:
The BJP's 31 newly-elected legislators in Delhi were virtually told to prepare for fresh elections by senior party leader Nitin Gadkari this morning. He said they must "think of themselves not as MLAs, but as candidates."
The advice from Mr Gadkari, a former party president and the man who was in charge of the Delhi elections, comes as the BJP finds itself leading a hung Assembly in Delhi with 31 MLAs, five short of the majority it would need to form government.
It has been two days since the Delhi results were announced but the BJP has made no attempt to stake claim to form government. Neither has Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, which is number 2 with 28 seats.
Both parties say they're not entitled to form the government and will serve in the opposition. That could force the Lieutenant Governor, Najeeb Jung, to call for President's Rule.
Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said no request had come from the Lieutenant-Governor yet, but the Centre is "watching the situation."
If President's Rule is imposed in Delhi, fresh elections will have to be held within six months and would then likely be scheduled along with national elections, due by May.
In such a scenario, the 31 MLAs who attended the BJP meeting today could well find themselves campaigning again for a seat in the Delhi Assembly.
Apart from Mr Gadkari, today's meeting was attended by Dr Harsh Vardhan, the party's chief ministerial candidate and senior party leader Vijay Goel.
The new MLAs are now meeting BJP chief Rajnath Singh.