Earlier in the day, party leader Yogendra Yadav ruled out the possibility of forming a minority government, but by evening political circles were agog with information to the contrary. ‘We discussed all possibilities. But, we have decided that we will not take support of or give support to anyone to form the government. We are ready for re-election,’ said Yadav after AAP’s political affairs committee meeting at party convener Arvind Kejriwal’s house in Kaushambi, Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. He earlier said that AAP does not have majority support nor has it finished first.
However, in a related development in the evening, Delhi Congress president Jai Prakash Agarwal and AICC general secretary and in-charge of Delhi Shakeel Ahmed jointly sent a letter to Jung stating that since the Bharatiya Janata Party has already refused to form the government in Delhi and since the LG has invited AAP to discuss government formation, the Congress would give unconditional support to Kejriwal’s party. The decision to this effect, according to sources, was taken at the residence of the former chief minister.
The Congress has taken the view that the support was being provided as the people of Delhi were not in a position to face fresh election. A Congress source said that all eight legislators of the party were ready to back AAP, which has been invited by Jung on Saturday to explore the possibility of forming a government.
The AAP finished with 28 seats in the 70-member assembly, just behind the Bharatiya Janata Party’s 31, leaving Delhi with a hung house. The BJP on Thursday said it will not form a government.
Following the communication from the Congress party to the Raj Niwas, sources from the AAP camp indicated that government formation was being seriously considered as an option and the party would use the opportunity to fulfill the promises made to the people of Delhi in the run-up to the just concluded polls.
Meanwhile, the BJP has again asked AAP to form a government while assuring it of constructive cooperation in fulfilling its promises such as slashing tariff by 50 per cent and providing free water upto 700 litres daily. All eyes are now on Kejriwal.