BJP's Delhi whitewash doesn't faze AAP: Party wants fresh assembly polls

The Congress party, perhaps smarting from its embarrassing lowest ever score in the general election, appeared set for a last-ditch attempt to hold on to some semblance of power by offering the Aam Aadmi Party assistance in putting the Delhi state government back on its feet. But AAP for its part, though it can hardly be unaware that the Bharatiya Janata Party is most likely to sweep elections if fresh polls to the Assembly are held any time now, has announced that it prefers to go back to the people for a fresh mandate. [caption id=“attachment_1433131” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Ready for fresh polls? A file photo of Arvind Kejriwal. PTI[/caption] The Congress, needless to add, has completely denied that any such back-channeling was even underway. Polls to the Delhi Assembly will have to be held shortly, in the wake of the decision by the AAP government, which was propped up by the Congress , to resign on 14 February over its inability to introduce and pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Assembly. AAP reportedly alleged that the Congress, wary of an even bigger debacle if repolls are held soon after its whitewash in Delhi where it did not even finish second in the seven Lok Sabha constituencues, was in “no mood to face another election”, according to a report in The Hindustan Times. “At least two leaders from Congress approached more than one of our functionaries, asking them to convey to the top leadership that it is ready to offer support to AAP if we decide to form a government,” AAP sources were quoted as saying. The party appears to believe that it can improve on its December performance in Delhi, when it got 28 MLAs and the BJP finished with 31. Perhaps buoying its hopes is that its vote share is now up, 32.9 percent in the general election as compared to 29.3 percent in December. Also giving the AAP hope for a good fight is the fact that it lost some of the Delhi LS seats by thin margins – candidates including former journalist Ashutosh and former Delhi minister Rakhi Birla polled over 3 lakh and over 5.2 lakh votes respectively, a sign that the party still has strong support in parts of the capital. In any case, it is now amply clear that the Delhi Assembly poll will be an AAP Vs BJP contest. The BJP swept Delhi in the Lok Sabha polls, picking up all seven seats. Dr Harsh Vardhan, the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate when Assembly polls were held in December last year, has now been elected to Lok Sabha, defeating incumbent MP and union minister Kapil Sibal. Two other BJP MLAs – from Tughlakabad and Mehrauli – were also elected to the Lok Sabha. Reports have suggested that Harsh Vardhan may even be given a Cabinet berth at the Centre.