Secret desires: Why Congress is hoping BJP forms the next Delhi govt

Delhi: Even as the BJP keeps other political parties on tenterhooks by their sporadic moves towards forming the government in Delhi, the Congress seems happy to play the waiting game. Though the Congress leadership in Delhi has declared BJP’s intentions to form a government without a clear majority as “unholy”, they would be more than pleased to see them cobble together the required strength in the House. The numbers have stacked up in such a way that it seems almost impossible for them to prove their majority in the House without abstentions from other parties. The BJP got a shot in the arm last Saturday when Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung wrote to the President, suggesting that single largest party should be allowed to form the government rather than hold fresh elections in the state. “This move comes at the behest of Union Home Minister. BJP trying to form a government in Delhi is unconstitutional,” charged Mukesh Sharma, chief spokesperson of Delhi Congress. [caption id=“attachment_1702203” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP image[/caption]With Dr Harshvardhan, Ramesh Bidhuri and Jag Pravesh Verma being elected to Parliament, the current strength of Delhi assembly is reduced to 67. BJP and SAD have 29 (28+1) MLAs, the AAP is second with 28 seats(including the expelled Binny), the Congress has 8 while JD(U) and an Independent have one seat each. The BJP will now not be able to reach the required magic figure of 34 without the support of either the AAP or the Congress. The best option available is to make use of the unrest amongst other parties’ MLA’s and convince them to abstain. Both the AAP and the Congress realise that none of the MLAs want a fresh election and have been crying foul that BJP wants to indulge in horse trading and poach their MLAs. AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal even met the President and has filed a petition in the Supreme Court asking for fresh elections to be held, the hearing of which is slated for Tuesday. Delhi Congress under their new chief Arvinder Singh Lovely has kept supporters busy the whole summer with protests against both rivals on issues like power, water shortage and rising prices. The party just launched the ‘Aakrosh Rally’ where it has accused both parties of neglecting the people of the state, and has also lashed out the BJP for trying to subvert the democratic process to usurp power. The saffron party on its part seems unaffected even as they are likely to hold a Central Election Committee this Tuesday to take stock of the current political situation in the capital. “They are scared of facing elections, that’s why they are opting for unconstitutional methods,” claimed Shakeel Ahmad, senior Congress leader and general secretary in charge of Delhi. Unlike the AAP that faces the biggest risk of its MLAs deserting the party, most of the Congress MLAs are seasoned politicians. The BJP had been in touch with some of the Congress MLAs as well in the past, but nothing came out of that, barring the Congress shouting itself hoarse about BJP’s no-holds barred approach to form the government. The Congress knows that if elections are held now, they may not even be able to retain the eight Assembly seats that they have, especially given the 2014 Parliament elections saw the party coming third in all the seven Delhi seats that the BJP won. The AAP has lost credibility, especially with the middle and upper class voters after they resigned within 49 days of assuming power in Delhi last year. So the best way forward remains that status quo is maintained in such a manner that they don’t have to face elections. Apart from Harshvardhan’s assembly seat, the BJP knows that it may not be able to retain the other two seats vacated if by-elections are held now, so it will push for their party staking claim to form the government in Delhi. If the BJP does get the call to form the government, then it could lead to an internal squabble over who will be chief minister. Jagdish Mukhi, Rambir Singh Bidhuri, Vijender Gupta and even Meenakshi Lekhi seem to be in the race for the top job in Delhi. While the AAP will remain a shadow of its former self, having lost the enormous goodwill generated in the run up the 2013 Delhi assembly elections. The current Delhi assembly has four more years left, and the Congress hopes to put its house in order and wait for the AAP to disintegrate during this stretch. With a more youthful team, the party then hopes to pip a weakened the AAP as the main opposition party in the state.