Zee Media Bureau/Manisha Singh
New Delhi: The Delhi deadlock regarding government formation may not be over. Even as Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal is getting ready to take oath and become the seventh chief minister of Delhi, reports indicated on Tuesday that the Congress was seriously thinking withdrawing support to the rookie party.
Divisions in Congress came to the fore today over support to the AAP, when senior leader and party spokesperson, Janardan Dwivedi, said on Tuesday that perhaps the decision to support the new party on the block was not correct. He also said that there was division in the Congress over the issue and added that maybe it would have been better to sit in the Opposition and raise people`s issues.
The comments by Dwivedi was made after Congress supporters held a demonstration outside the DPCC office yesterday protesting against the party`s decision to extend outside support to AAP.
Also, earlier the Congress had said that they were offering unconditional support to the AAP but later changing their stand, party leaders started saying that the support was not unconditional. Congress leader and former chief minister of Delhi Sheila Dikshit also echoed the same view.
The change in Congress` view is said to have come when AAP leaders hit out at its leaders. AAP leaders have been saying that they would not hesitate to investigate Congress leaders who were embroiled in various scams.
AAP had sought people`s opinion on whether they should go ahead and form the government. Addressing the press yesterday, they said that they had decided to go with the results of the `referendum` which overwhelmingly favoured the party taking the reins of power.
Later, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal met Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and and handed a letter to him staking claim to form government.
Delhi which voted on 04 December threw up a fractured mandate when the results were announced on December 08. The BJP emerged as the single largest party winning 31 seats and SAD won one seat. Meanwhile, the AAP surprised everyone with their stellar performance, in their first outing, by winning 28 seats. The Congress was reduced to 08 seats. However, no party had the majority to form the government.
The BJP, when invited told the LG that they could not prove majority on the floor of the house. And the AAP went on record saying that they would rather sit in the Opposition than take the support of either the BJP or the Congress.
But the party started having second thoughts when the Congress offered support to the AAP. After Congress` offer, Kejriwal accepted that there were divisions in the party on whether they should take support from the Congress and form the government in Delhi. Thus, the decision to go to the people.
Meanwhile, AAP leader Prashant Bhushan said yesterday that in view of the Congress’ `track record` he did not expect the Delhi government to survive for long. The BJP too said today that Congress and AAP were collaborating to form government in a "self- serving" exercise with "dishonourable" motive, as Congress wants a breather and fears another electoral humiliation while AAP was keen to prevent its MLAs from being "scattered".
