Yes, there is deep divide over support for AAP, says Congress

New Delhi: Later this week, Arvind Kejriwal, 44, will be sworn in as Delhi's youngest chief minister. His closest aides have said they expect a short stint. Mr Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party or AAP will form a minority government. The Congress, which they booted to third place in last month's election, will offer external support - somewhat reluctantly.

"The mandate was not for the Congress, perhaps we should have played the role of the opposition," said senior Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi, adding that a section of the party believes that "perhaps the decision to support AAP is not correct."

For two weeks after its daunting debut, the AAP, which won 28 of Delhi's 70 seats, said it would ally with neither the Congress nor the BJP, both parties trashed regularly by Mr Kejriwal for being corrupt and divisive.

The BJP, which had the maximum seats but not a majority, took its cue from AAP. It vowed abstinence from the usual political practice of grabbing legislators from other parties to get the 36 seats needed to form the government.

Then Congress offered to back the AAP, daring the political ingenue to form the government and deliver on the promises it had made - like halving the price of electricity and supplying 700 free litres of water to every house every day. (Read)

Both the BJP and the Congress hope that before the national elections, AAP will stand exposed as a novice that cannot walk the talk that has made it so popular with the electorate.

AAP says it expects to be knifed in the back, but will take a shot at governance because a referendum held via SMS and public meetings showed that the people of Delhi want it to take charge. (Read)