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Delhi heading for President rule
Delhi Heading for President Raule, Elections in UP, Upcoming Lok Sabha Elections. AICC General Secretary in-charge of Delhi, Shakeel Ahmed, made an offer earlier in the day, extending outside support to AAP to form the government, in order to keep the BJP out. The AAP was quick to reject it.
- BJP falls short of majority by 4 seats, not to stake claim to form government
- Congress offers support to AAP, but it rejects
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party has emerged as the single largest party in the Delhi Assembly, but failed to get a simple majority of 36 seats. Since no party is willing to join hands with the other, it is bound to create a difficult situation for Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung. The Lt Governor can recommend a brief spell of Central rule and place the Assembly in suspended animation if he so desires, giving an opportunity to the political parties to cobble up a majority to form the government. The BJP has won 32 seats, including one Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) member, in a 70-member Assembly. There are two others, whose support the BJP can enlist, taking up the tally to 34, which is still two short of a simple majority. The AAP has 28 members and the Congress 8. AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal has made it clear that he would neither seek nor extend support to any party, preferring to sit in the opposition.
AICC General Secretary in-charge of Delhi, Shakeel Ahmed, made an offer earlier in the day, extending outside support to AAP to form the government, in order to keep the BJP out. The AAP was quick to reject it.
Taking cue from AAP, BJP chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan also stated that since the BJP has got 32 seats, he would not stake claim to form government.
At the BJP headquarters, a strategy session was held in the evening, which was attended by party president Rajnath Singh besides Narendra Modi and others. After the meeting, Arun Jaitley said that the party would decide in a couple of days whether to stake a claim or not, after weighing chances of garnering legitimate support to bridge the deficit. “If transparent support is not possible, then the constitutional process will take its course,” he said. The Lt Governor has the option of inviting the single largest party to form the government. The term of the present Assembly expires on December 17 and a new govermnet has to be sworn in by that date or impose President rule, keeping the new Assembly in suspended animation.
No party can afford now to breach the standards set by the AAP as it will only boomerang on them in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. There is a precedent of the single largest party being called to form the government as had happened during 1991 when P V Narasimha Rao formed the minority government, but it is for the BJP to take a call.
