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The Centre told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that President Pranab Mukherjee has given his consent to Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung’s proposal to invite the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as the largest party in the Assembly, to form the government in Delhi.
The BJP said it would take a decision to stake claim to form the government only after receiving a formal invitation from Jung. Both its rivals in Delhi — the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress — have alleged Jung was giving ample time to the BJP to enable it to poach members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) from other parties.
The Election Commission had on Saturday announced it would hold by-polls on November 25 for three Assembly seats that fell vacant after BJP MLAs Ramesh Bidhuri, Harsh Vardhan and Parvesh Sahib Singh were elected to the Lok Sabha. Sources in the political circles speculate BJP is likely to stake claim to form the government and is averse to fresh polls.
The December 2013 Assembly elections in Delhi had produced a hung Assembly. The AAP had formed the government with the outside support from Congress, but quit after 49 days. Delhi has been under the President’s Rule since February. The Congress and the AAP have been demanding fresh polls in Delhi. The BJP has been unwilling to spell out its position on the issue. “We will take a decision at an appropriate time once the Lieutenant Governor invites us to form the government,” Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay said on Tuesday.
There are many MLAs within the BJP who do not want fresh polls. Indications that there might be such legislators in AAP, too, has given BJP strategists confidence that their party will be able to cobble up a majority in the 70-member Assembly. At present, BJP has 28 seats, while its ally, Shiromani Akali Dal, has one. AAP has 27, Congress eight, and Janata Dal (United) one. There are also two Independents, including an expelled AAP MLA. The BJP is confident of retaining its three seats going for the coming by-polls. The AAP and Congress have been critical of Jung’s delay in taking a decision on government formation in Delhi.
“In order to please his masters at the Centre — Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team — he (Jung) was resorting to delaying tactics to give the BJP enough time and opportunity to poach MLAs of other parties,” AICC general secretary in-charge for Delhi Shakeel Ahmed said.
AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of running away from fresh elections.
“The BJP is not confident of winning the Assembly elections. That’s why they are delaying it. It is playing dirty politics over the issue.
If the BJP had the magic numbers, it would have formed the government in the national capital,” he said.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court rapped the Lieutenant Governor for the five-month delay in taking a decision. It said that in a democracy, a President’s rule cannot go on forever and questioned why the authorities had failed to act expeditiously.
A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu also said that it will hear the petition filed by the AAP seeking dissolution of the House.
Jung had sent a report last month to the President seeking permission to invite the BJP, the single largest party, to form government in Delhi.
The planned by-polls for November 25 will not take place if the lieutenant-governor dissolves the Assembly.
