Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) appears to be in a dilemma over formation of Government in Delhi as its leaders kept changing their stand on the issue. The party’s flip-flop and indecision continued on Friday with one of the prominent members, Kumar Vishwas declaring that all options were open. However, Yogendra Yadav, a senior AAP leader said on Friday that they will convey their decision to Delhi lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung on Saturday.
Meanwhile in a significant development, the Congress wrote a letter to the l-G that it was supporting AAP to form the Government. This subtle move by the Congress has now put the ball in AAP’s court as it will have to do a balancing act to decline the offer to form the Government.
With this, Delhi inched closer to President’s Rule as the BJP had already conveyed to the l-G on Thursday that the party was not in a position to form the Government as they were short of simple majority. In a fast moving development after Kumar Vishwas’s statement, AAP leader Yogendra Yadav told the media that when legislature party chairman Arvind Kejriwal meets l-G Najeeb Jung on Saturday, he will reiterate the party’s stand that they do not have the majority and the party was not inclined to form a Government.
AAP won 28 seats in Delhi Assembly elections and the minimum number required to form the Government is 36. “The l-G has sent a letter to Kejriwal formally inviting AAP to discuss Government formation. We are going to meet him at 10.30 am. We will explain to him our position. We will tell him that we do not have majority. Also we are not the largest party in the Assembly. We will put before him all these views. We do not favour manipulative politics,” Yadav said. He said they will submit a memorandum explaining their position.
Yadav claimed that because of AAP, other parties have also changed their strategy by not staking their claim contrary to their earlier practice elsewhere of forming Governments by hook or by crook. However, when Vishwas was asked about the decision, he said all options are open and nothing has been decided yet. “Our stand has been clear from the beginning of not giving or taking support from anyone. We have never opened options for anyone. As of now we have not decided anything and will only take a decision once we meet the lG on Saturday. We will see what the lG will say and then take on the things the same way,” said Vishwas told The Pioneer.
On Thursday, the BJP, which is the single largest party with 31 seats plus ally Akali Dal’s lone seat, turned down the lt Governor’s offer for Government formation. After a meeting with Jung who invited him to discuss Government formation, party’s chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan said BJP would like to sit in the Opposition in view of the lack of clear mandate by people of Delhi. There have been debate that AAP, which made an electrifying debut, should form the Government with outside support of either BJP or Congress, a view rejected outright by the debutant party.