Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is considering to hold a referendum to form government in Delhi, where they were wiped out in all seven seats in the recently concluded General Elections, several months after winning 28 seats in the assembly polls there.
Reports on Tuesday said that a large number of AAP leaders are in favour of holding a referendum to seek public sanction for forming government in the national capital. The AAP leaders are of view that holding a referendum will help the party understand the people’s mood and their expectations from them.
“We want people to advise us on what should we do next. We are discussing the possibility of holding public interactions during which we could ask them if they want a re-election in another six months or for AAP for form the government again,” said a senior member of the AAP’s political advisory committee (PAC) was quoted as saying.
The party had earlier conducted a people’s referendum in December last year to decide whether it should stake claim to form a minority government with Congress’ support in the national capital. With public opinion in its favour, AAP came to power and its convenor Arvind Kejriwal was appointed as the chief minister. Kejriwal, however, resigned within 49 days over his government’s failure to get the anti-corruption bill passed in the Delhi Assembly.
In the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, the party contested on 444 seats but could only win four seats, and that too, outside Delhi where it was completely wiped out in all seven seats.
Soon after the announcement of Lok Sabha results, its leaders admitted that their decision to quit government without taking the public into confidence in Delhi worked against them.
Now, standing at the crossroads and staring at an uncertain future, some senior AAP leaders, including Kejriwal, are not averse to the idea of coming back to power in the capital. There is a feeling within the party that Congress may also be in favour of supporting AAP as a re-election would mean that they could risk losing even the eight seats it won in the assembly elctions.
However, senior AAP leaders like Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhusan have vehemently opposed the idea.
