BJP appears inclined to form government in Delhi

New Delhi: The BJP appears inclined to form a government in Delhi in the wake of Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung's report recommending that the single largest party be given a chance to come to power.  

Hectic consultations were held today by Home Minister Rajnath Singh with Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhya, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, BJP leader Prabhat Jha, who is the state in-charge in the party.

Moves in the ruling party came a day after Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung sent a report to President seeking permission to explore the possibilities of formation of a government by consulting the single largest party.

 In his report, Jung gave a detailed analysis of the political situation in the city and underlined the need to have an elected government in the city which is under President's rule since February 17 following resignation of the Aam Aadmi Party government which was in power for 49 days.

The Lt Governor said though no party has staked claim to form government in Delhi, the BJP could be invited to take the reins as it is the single largest party in the Assembly.  BJP, the single party has 28 MLAs in a House of 70.

Its ally Akali Dal has one MLA. BJP had won 31 seats but three party legislators Harsh Vardhan, Ramesh Bidhuri and Pervesh Verma were elected to Lok Sabha and had to resign their Assembly seats.

The Aam Aadmi Party had won 28 seats in its debut Assembly elections and had later formed the government with outside support from Congress' eight MLAs.  BJP Delhi Pradesh chief Satish Upadhya said various options are available to form the next government in Delhi that includes invocation of Section 9 (2) of the National Capital Territory Act.

He claimed that under this provision there could be a secret ballot to choose a Chief Minister without inviting the wrath of the anti-defection law.

Upadhya said another option is extending invitation to the single largest party (BJP) to form the government as there have been precedents in the past in the country when minority government was in power.

However, he said the BJP is ready to go for polls in Delhi if there is a decision for holding elections.

“But if we are invited to form government in Delhi, we will do critical analysis and micro detailing and take a call.  No MLA from any party wants polls now,” he said after a meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh.  

Upadhya made it clear that BJP would not indulge in horse trading to form the government in Delhi nor any invitation has come to the party to form the government.  The Aam Aadmi Party launched a scathing attack on Jung accusing him of promoting “horse-trading”.

“Media reports clearly signal that Lt Governor of Delhi is promoting horse trading. President should not allow him and BJP to play with democracy. It will be a rape of Constitution if a party which has refused to form government once, is invited to form the Govt,” senior AAP leader and party's Delhi convenor Ashutosh tweeted.

Congress said that the moves aimed at allowing BJP to take a shot at power in Delhi showed that the ruling party has lost confidence of going in for fresh polls because of the “inept performance” of the Central government.  “The BJP was the single largest party when the result was declared. What has changed since then and now is that they have lost the confidence of going to the people because of the inept performance of the central government,” party leader Manish Tewari said.

The government led by Kejriwal had resigned on February 14 after the party's pet project, the Janlokpal Bill, could not be passed due to opposition from BJP and Congress.  President's Rule was imposed in Delhi on February 17.

The Lt Governor had not favoured dissolution of the Delhi Assembly as recommended by the Council of Ministers headed by Kejriwal and kept the Assembly in suspended animation.  Last week the Congress and AAP had cautioned the Lt Governor not to take any “unconstitutional move” by inviting BJP to form government.

Both the parties have been demanding immediate dissolution of the Assembly, saying keeping it in suspended animation will encourage horse trading.