AAP asks L-G to invite BJP to form govt in Delhi

Calls upon the LG to take appropriate decision in this regard, so that the citizens of Delhi can have a democratically elected govt at the earliest

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday asked Lt Governor Najeeb Jung to invite the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the government in Delhi if it is really inclined to do so.

“The AAP humbly requests you firstly to invite the leaders of the BJP to ascertain whether they are inclined to form the government in Delhi and, if they express their unwillingness or inability to form the government, then you kindly reconsider your earlier recommendation to the President of placing the assembly in a state of suspended animation,” party leader and senior advocate Prashant Bhushan said in a letter to Jung.

Bhushan called upon the LG to take an "appropriate decision" in this regard, so that the citizens of Delhi can have a democratically elected government at the earliest.

The AAP is involved in a legal tussle over the Lt Governor's decision to place the Delhi Legislative Assembly in suspended animation and has also approached the Supreme Court over the decision. In his resignation letter on February 14, Arvind Kejriwal had asked Jung to dissolve the House and conduct fresh polls.

The apex court too had sought response from the BJP and the Congress and asked them to clarify their stand on the issue. The party said the Congress avoided specific query of the Supreme Court over government formation. On the other hand the BJP has said that it has not yet taken any decision on the matter as the party had not been invited by the Lt Governor to form the government.

"It would be pertinent here to submit that the BJP, at the time of the resignation of the government led by AAP, had made it very clear to media and in Rajya Sabha that they were neither willing nor in a position to form the government. "On the other hand, the BJP claims that they have taken no firm stance on the subject, since the Hon'ble Lieutenant Governor has not yet invited them to discuss this issue as yet," he said.

Of the 70-member Delhi Legislative Assembly, the BJP is the largest party with 32 MLAs, including one lone legislator of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal), AAP has 28 MLAs of which Laxmi Nagar MLA Vinod Kumar Binny has been expelled while the Congress has eight. JD(U) has one MLA while another is an independent.