New Delhi: BJP today welcomed the Supreme Court's observation expressing satisfaction over Lt Governor Najeeb Jung's moves to explore the possibility of government formation in Delhi while Congress insisted on immediate dissolution of the Assembly and holding of fresh polls.
Aam Aadmi Party, which had approached the apex court seeking dissolution of the House, reacted cautiously, saying it accepted the stand taken by the court.
"We welcome the observation by the Supreme Court. The party leadership will take an appropriate decision at an appropriate time if BJP is invited to form government," Delhi BJP President Satish Upadhyay said refusing to comment further.
AAP leader Ashutosh said, "The court noted that it's a positive step by the LG. But this positive step should have been taken long back."
A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu earlier expressed satisfaction over Jung's recent moves to explore the possibility of government formation in Delhi and said that he should be given more time as "there could be a minority government with outside support".
Congress, however, maintained that the Assembly should be dissolved immediately to pave the way for holding of fresh polls.
"We demand immediate dissolution of the Assembly. Elections in Delhi should be held immediately as no party is in a position to form government. The LG should have taken the initiative long back," DPCC Chief Spokesperson Mukesh Sharma said.
The Lt Governor had yesterday decided to kick off consultations with BJP, AAP and Congress in the next few days to install an elected government in the capital or to dissolve the Assembly to pave way for elections early next year.
BJP, which is the single largest party in the Assembly and is likely to be invited by Jung at the earliest, has not given any clear signal on its strategy but there were indications that it was preparing for fresh polls in January or February.
The LG's decision to begin consultations with the political parties came after the Supreme Court on Tuesday slammed him and the Centre for delay in taking a decision on government formation in Delhi, saying President's Rule cannot go on forever.
Currently BJP, along with ally Akali Dal's lone MLA, has 29 legislators and will require the support of five more MLAs to prove majority in the 67-member Assembly if it decides to form government.
BJP had emerged as the single largest party in the December Assembly polls winning 31 seats but fell four seats short of a simple majority. It had refused to form government then, saying it will not resort to any "unfair means" to take over the reins.
Its strength came down to 28 after the Lok Sabha polls as three MLAs--Harsh Vardhan, Ramesh Bidhuri and Pervesh Verma-- were elected to Parliament. The bypolls to the three seats will be held on November 25.
AAP had formed the government in Delhi with the support of Congress. 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.
Jung had not favoured dissolution of the Assembly as recommended by then Council of Ministers headed by Kejriwal and kept the House in suspended animation.
