Aam Aadmi Party president Arvind Kejriwal. (File pic)
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal will meet President Pranab Mukherjee today in the wake of reports that Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung has recommended that the option of inviting the single largest party, the BJP, to form government in Delhi must be explored.
A delegation of AAP leaders, led by Mr Kejriwal, will call on the President to request him not to allow the Lieutenant Governor to invite the BJP.
In a note to the President, the Lieutenant Governor has reportedly suggested that the BJP should be allowed to prove its majority on the floor of the assembly before a fresh election is considered.
Calling the Lieutenant Governor's suggestion "murder of democracy", Mr Kejriwal said today, "On what basis will he justify what he is suggesting? Isn't this an invitation to form a government through dishonest means? BJP doesn't have the numbers. They will ask Congress and AAP leaders to join them. They will bribe them. Is this democracy?"
The BJP is five legislators short of a majority and the top leadership is said to be divided on whether the party should try to make up the numbers if it is invited to form government or then decline as it did after the state elections last December.
The Aam Aadmi Party has said that inviting the BJP to form government would be unconstitutional and would encourage defections. Its petition for fresh polls in Delhi will be heard in the Supreme Court on next Tuesday, September 9.
The Congress has also said it will firmly oppose the BJP's bid for power.
The BJP, with 29 legislators, is the single largest party after the Delhi assembly polls in December threw up a fractured verdict. The BJP had won 31 seats but three BJP MLAs, including its chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan, contested and won the national election in May.
After failing to cross the finishing line in the December polls, the BJP had refused to form government. AAP, with 28 legislators, then formed government with help from the Congress, which was reduced to just eight legislators after 15 years in power.
President's Rule was imposed in February when Mr Kejriwal resigned just 49 days after he was sworn in as chief minister.