With that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) indicating that it is likely to form the government in Delhi with Congress support, the BJP and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi wasted no opportunity in slamming the rookie party.
BJP leader Arun Jaitley questioned as to why AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal was rethinking on his stand on not aligning with either the Congress or the BJP. "Political opportunism should have no place in alternative politics dictated by idealism. The AAP may be concerned with the fact that many MLAs including AAP MLAs do not want an early poll. It may even be strategising on how to capture power, announce a few popular decisions and carve out a further positioning for itself. It has, therefore, decided to enact a farcical referendum. In effect, political opportunism is being masked with the idea of popular sanction behind it," reacted Jaitley in his blog.
While Jaitley questioned AAP for political opportunism, Kiran Bedi, who with Kejriwal was at the forefront of the Anna Hazare led anti-corruption agitation, wondered whether AAP was between the "rock and hard place". "Is AAP between Rock and Hard Place?
Are they very grass rooted? Or are they risk averse therefore require shared responsibility? Time will tell!" she tweeted.
Bedi also raised concern over the "AAP-Congress alliance" in Delhi. "I don't know how long this alliance will last. As a resident of Delhi, I don't want to be a witness of mutual allegations. The alliance is very fragile. We voted for stability, growth, integrity, not a war of allegations," she said.
AAP has hinted that it will form the government in the capital with Congress support. The rookie party claims that the referendum held by the party has favoured formation of the government. "If all of you favour to form government, we will form the government," Kejriwal said at a public rally at Gole Market on Sunday.
"The final decision will be announced on Monday. We don't know yet. We will come to know the results by Sunday night. We will apprise the media of the results. The MLAs will decide who will be the Chief Minister," he said.
Kejriwal has maintained that the party would fulfil the strong manifesto, which was prepared in consultation with the voters and experts. Noting that the party had to have a few more meetings with the public on the issue of formation of the government, the AAP leader said, "The public choice is engaged in each and every step of the government formation."
AAP is likely to make an announcement to media on its decision at 11 am on Monday following which Kejriwal will meet Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung at 12:30 pm to officially convey his decision.
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