Amid continued uncertainty over government formation in Delhi, the Aam Admi Party on Tuesday maintained that it would neither take nor extend support to either the BJP or the Congress as the new party was formed as an alternative to them.
After a meeting of senior AAP leaders at its chief Arvind Kejriwal’s residence here, the party said it would not stake claim to form government and prefer to sit in the opposition.
“We cannot support BJP or Congress as AAP was formed as an alternative to them. People had supported us so that we can establish an alternative politics in the country,” AAP leader Prashant Bhushan said.
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Asked about his reported comments that AAP could give issue based support to BJP, he said it was his personal comment and that it was made in a rhetorical context. “What I had said during a TV debate was my personal comment. It was a rhetoric… It is impossible for BJP and Congress to do the kind of politics we do. ...It has been our stand that we will neither take support from BJP nor extend support to BJP,” said Mr. Bhushan.
Hectic consultations were on in both AAP and BJP camps two days after the Assembly elections threw up a split verdict that gave majority to none in the 70-member Assembly. While the BJP emerged as single largest party winning 31 seats, its ally Akali Dal (Badal) bagged one constituency, leaving it four MLAs short of the majority mark of 36.
AAP, on the other hand, won 28 seats followed by Congress with eight. JD-U has got one seat while the Mundka seat was won by an Independent.
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The BJP has also said that it would not stake claim to form government. “We have no numbers. We do not want to purchase any MLAs,” former BJP president Nitin Gadkari, who is party in-charge for Delhi, had said on Monday.
AAP legislators on Monday unanimously elected Arvind Kejriwal as their leader in the Delhi Assembly. Asked about newly elected AAP MLA from Seemapuri, Dharmendra Singh Kohli, being booked on charges of molestation and rioting on a complaint by former Congress MLA Veer Singh Dhinghan, party spokesperson Manish Sisodia said the allegations were politically motivated.