Delhi elections impasse: BJP, AAP & Congress unwilling to ally with each other

NEW DELHI: With the Delhi election results leading to a hung assembly, all three major political parties - BJP, AAP and Congress were on Monday unwilling to ally with each other. Spokespersons of all three parties denied such a possibility, making re-lection an imminent possibility in the national capital.

BJP, along with its partner Akali Dal's one seat, has 32 MLAs and will need the support of at least four more to reach the magic figure of 36. AAP has bagged 28 seats followed by Congress with eight. JD-U won one seat while the Mundka seat was bagged by an Independent.

After a meeting of top AAP leaders at party chief Arvind Kejriwal's residence, the newcomer to electoral politics said it will not stake claim to form government and will play the role of a constructive opposition.

AAP leader Yogendra Yadav said even if Lt Governor Najeeb Jung invites the party to form the government it will decline such an offer, citing lack of majority.

"We are not going to form the government. We will sit in the opposition and play the role of a constructive opposition. As per the Constitution, the largest party has to take the responsibility of forming government," Yadav said.

"We don't have the mandate to form the government. It is a strange situation where the single largest party is asking the number 2 party to form the government," he told reporters.

BJP has also expressed its reluctance to stake claim, saying it did not have the numbers to provide a stable government. Arun Jaitley, Senior BJP leader told Times Now, "We do not have the numbers. We are 32 and you require 36. Even if we manage one or two amongst the unattached people who are there, we are still short of the figure."

According to Jaitley there are two options. "The first option is in some repolarisation. Somebody agrees to support us. We can neither take support from the Aam Aadmi Party or the Congress. Therefore that seems to be a lesser possibility. The other alternative is that the Congress Party supports the Aam Aadmi Party from outside because elections are held in order to elect a government."

Jaitley ruled out the possibility of allying with either of the parties saying "It is not possible for us to either align with Aam Aadmi Party or Congress. It is an impossibility." "If the identity and character of the parties is so distinct, then the possibility of their coming closer to each other does not appear to be likely," he added.

BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan had said last night that he will not stake claim to form a government as his party is short of a clear majority and would prefer to sit in the opposition than indulge in any "horse trading".

"Since I don't have number I cannot stake my claim in forming my government in Delhi...Since I don't have the magic number of 36, I really cannot be a part of the government formation in Delhi," he had said.

Meanwhile, Sheila Dikshit of the Congress also said that her party will not support AAP. "I don't know what went wrong. But Congress is not going to provide outisde support to AAP," she told Times Now.