Responding to Aam Aadmi Party’s rhetoric, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party chief Satish Upadhyay accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led political outfit of betraying the people of Delhi. The media is also back in giving larger than life exposure to Kejriwal. But so far, no one conducted a survey on the acceptance or forgiveness of all what he did. While it is not surprising that efforts to entice some members of other parties is an old game played by the BJP, AAP should ensure that all its MLAs are with them. The Governor cannot stop such tactics but will have to accept if the BJP can give the names of their supporters.
Addressing the media, Upadhyay came down heavily on AAP saying that because of their lust for power, Delhi is witnessing such a situation. However, the Delhi BJP chief went on to say that if his party gets an invitation from the Lt Governor to form government in Delhi then the BJP has the right to critically analyse the situation and take a call. Upadhyay’s reaction came after Kejriwal yesterday dared the BJP to contest polls in Delhi. BJP accused Kejriwal of being greedy and Kejriwal accused BJP of wrong practices for power such as horse trading etc. The question is that, why BJP is afraid of contesting elections in Delhi when it has its own government at the Centre and has also won all seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital? Moreover, what strength or base Kejriwal has for being so much charged for these elections?
The AAP on Monday released a video showing a BJP leader offering money to one of its legislators, inducing him to quit the Assembly to improve BJP’s chances of forming a government in Delhi. The grainy video shot covertly shows Delhi unit vice-president Sher Singh Dagar making the bribe offer to AAP’s Dinesh Mohania if he resigned so as to bring down the effective strength of the hung Delhi Assembly. Earlier, the Supreme Court had asked the Centre to apprise it by October 10 about the outcome of political process initiated by Lt Governor by writing a letter to the President on exploring the possibility of government formation in Delhi. A five-judge Constitution Bench, headed by Justice HL Dattu, said that it is not going to keep this matter pending for a longer period of time and asked the Centre to inform it about the decision to be taken by the President of India on the LG’s letter. The apex court granted four weeks time to the Centre and directed it to file its response by October 10. Last week, Jung sent a report to President seeking permission to call the single largest party to take a shot at power though it is well short of majority in the Assembly.
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. The apex court had earlier asked the Centre to take a decision on holding assembly elections in Delhi in response to the AAP’s petition asking for the dissolution of the Assembly and fresh polls.
Both AAP and Congress have been demanding immediate dissolution of the Assembly, saying keeping it in suspended animation will encourage horse-trading. In the 2012 Delhi polls, while BJP had won 31 seats in the 70-member house, AAP had won 28 seats and Congress managed to bag only 8. 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 were elected to Lok Sabha and had to resign their Assembly seats.
In the present scenario, BJP is going against democracy by trying to form government by hook or crook in Delhi. They are following their muscle power. On the other hand, Democracy offered Kejriwal one of the most prestigious moments in his life by awarding him CM chair of Delhi. Without proving himself to be a good leader, he insulted that position and ran away for his political greed or for his personal perception for BJP/Narendra Modi. He could have stayed as CM of Delhi and worked on Lok Sabha elections and stood from Delhi itself without going to Varanasi. But he believed in jumping from one tree to another without proving himself and fell down. But he didn’t stop his political voracity here and forced LG to give him CM position again and when LG didn’t accept his approach, he started blaming LG as an agent of BJP/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. In a bid to checkmate BJP, Aam Aadmi Party said it is in contact with Congress, JD (U) and some “honest” BJP legislators to prevent the saffron party from forming government in Delhi through “ill means”. The former Delhi Chief Minister also accused Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung of batting for the BJP and demanded that letter written by Lieutenant Governor to the President seeking his permission to invite the BJP for government formation should be withdrawn immediately.
Anyway, everyone wondered why BJP was “afraid” of polls. “It is their government, their governor; they have 7 MPs then why they don’t want to go for elections in the national capital? Both the parties AAP and BJP should shed old rivalry and prove their worth in the upcoming elections. Let’s see who can form the government and who will be the Chief Minister of Delhi.
