The hung verdict in the Delhi Assembly elections has put the spotlight on lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung and raised intriguing questions about Government formation in the national Capital. He has three options before him once the Election Commission of India (ECI) notifies the formation of Assembly.
The lieutenant-Governor can invite the single largest party to form the Government, explore the option of inviting the second-largest party and in the event of both rejecting to form a Government, he will send a report to the President of India for proclamation of the President’s Rule in the State.
The President’s Rule can be ended once a party stakes claim to form a Government and then the lieutenant-Governor can ask them to prove majority on the floor of the House. The BJP can either stake claim to form the Government or wait for the lieutenant-Governor to invite it to do so. However, the catch is that the l-G may ask the BJP to form a Government, and if it accepts the offer, the party will have to prove its majority in the House within a specified period.
The other option left with Najeeb Jung is that if the BJP fails to respond to the invitation or refuses to stake claim to form a Government, then the second largest party (AAP) will be asked to stake claim. The third option is to recommend the President of India for promulgation of the President’s Rule in the Capital for a specified period, which is called ‘suspended animation’. If any party can work out any formula during this period and comes forward to stake claim, it can approach the l-G, and after which the l-G will ask the party to prove its majority on the floor. If the period of ‘suspended animation’ ends and no party comes forward, the city will go to re-polling.
According to former Director of the lok Sabha Secretariat, SK Sharma, this is the first time that Delhi is facing a hung Assembly. In a similar scenario in 2005, the BJP and JD(U) combined — headed by Nitish Kumar — failed to get a majority and lalu Yadav’s RJD too was unable to form a Government, the President had imposed President’s Rule and Governor Buta Singh ran the State administration. The same was lifted and fresh elections were held.