File photo: BJP's Harsh Vardhan
The BJP on Monday accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of "betraying the people of Delhi" after its leader Arvind Kejriwal said he will form a minority government with outside support of the Congress.
Harsh Vardhan, the Bharatiya Janata Party's chief ministerial candidate in Delhi, said by aligning with the Congress, the AAP has proved that they were hungry for power.
"The AAP fought the election on the anti-corruption plank and now they have taken support from a party that has been completely rejected by the people of Delhi. This proves that AAP is hungry for power," Harsh Vardhan said.
"This is a betrayal of the wishes of the people of Delhi," he added.
The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 31 seats, but it fell short of a majority in the 70-member house. The AAP stood second with 28 seats while the Congress took the third spot with just eight seats.
After the BJP decided not to form the government, the AAP told Delhi Lt.Governor Najeeb Jung that it needed 10 days' time to decide its course of action. The AAP then held what it called a referendum to ask people whether it should form a minority government.
Criticizing the AAP for holding the referendum, Harsh Vardhan said the opinion of a few hundred cannot supersede the mandate of lakhs of people.
"Around 70 per cent of the people of Delhi had given their mandate and chosen their representative and now you go out on streets and ask some hundreds of people to give a mandate that is an insult to the real dimension of democracy," the BJP leader said.