BJP still hopeful Congress will pull rug

NEW DELHI: Disappointed at losing the opportunity to form government in Delhi even after finishing as the single largest party with 31 MLAs, BJP on Monday attacked Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party, blaming it for “ganging up with the same corrupt Congress” against which it had fought on the plank of corruption and defeated it.

As the opposition party in the Delhi assembly, BJP is also pinning its hopes on Congress pulling down the government which its eight MLAs are supporting from outside. BJP sees the political atmosphere changing in its favour after the Lok Sabha polls, five months from now, and hopes it can get a majority in Delhi in the event of another poll.

Now that Kejriwal will lead the government in Delhi, there is no option for the BJP but to call AAP's alliance with Congress a “betrayal.” The BJP plans to play the betrayal card “as long as the Congress supported AAP government lasts in office,” a senior party leader said. The idea is to expose the “hypocrisy and duplicity” of AAP which accepted the support of Congress after its entire campaign was against the Sheila Dikshit government's corruption in the national capital, the leader said.

Delhi BJP leader Harsh Vardhan, whom the party had declared its CM candidate, on Monday predicted mid-term polls very soon, saying he was confident that Congress, “with its tradition of chicanery and corruption, will not allow AAP to perform and soon there will be mid-term polls” . BJP strategists decided against staking claim to form the government even as they were invited before AAP. With Lok Sabha elections only five months away, the central leadership decided against trying to lure four MLAs to conjure up the magic number needed to prove majority, for fear that BJP would lose credibility not just in Delhi but also at the national level.

For now, the BJP has decided to adopt a wait and watch policy. Banking on the Narendra Modi wave to catch on by the time parliamentary elections are held next year, BJP hopes the tide will turn in its favour even in Delhi. By then, Kejriwal's promises to the people of Delhi would also be tested. BJP leaders said AAP and Congress were compelled to join hands and form government since they were apprehensive that the Modi wave would have prevented them from forming government if fresh polls were held.