Aam Admi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal (R) receives a rose as he arrives to address a press conference at the party headquarters in Ghaziabad, on the outskirts of New Delhi, on December 23, 2013
After taking Congress support to form a government in Delhi based on feedback from the streets,
Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has gone online to justify its decision.
The AAP has released a YouTube video in seven languages to explain its decision to form a minority government, and why it went back on its vow to shun any alliance with either the Congress or the BJP. (
Watch video)
After the Delhi election results, Arvind Kejriwal had categorically ruled out any tie-up with either party, even swearing on his children in an interview.
The AAP video explains its 'minority government' with a diagram that separates Mr Kejriwal's party from the 'opposition', which includes both the Congress and the BJP. The Congress will get no ministry and will not be a part of the government, assures the bold text.
The video has been made in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi and English, and has generated much feedback since it was uploaded two days ago, before the AAP announced its decision to form a government.
The year-old party, which roused voters with the promise of a clean, corruption-free government, has repeatedly invited public opinion on its key strategies and decision-making. On Monday, it based its decision to take Congress help, on the opinion of 74 per cent of the respondents in a poll, and the "overwhelming support" of people at 272 "Jan Sabhas" or public meetings. (
74% of the people wanted us to form the government, says AAP)
The AAP won 28 seats in the Delhi assembly polls this month, second to the BJP, which won 31 seats but fell five short of a majority. Reduced to a poor third with just eight seats, the Congress offered external support to the AAP. (
Congress no ally, government could collapse on Day 1: AAP)
Hitting out at the BJP, which has accused them of "
gross betrayal" by aligning with a party they had called most corrupt, the AAP's video said, "We don't think of Congress or BJP. We think only of the common man."