Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday emerged as the single largest party in the national capital but could not achieve complete majority. The hung verdict in Delhi Assembly polls has raised intriguing questions about government formation in the national capital.
Keeping the situation in mind, BJP`s Chief Ministerial candidate Dr Harsh Vardhan said, "I don`t have requisite majority, won`t approach Lt Governor till I have the numbers."
Harsh Vardhan added that he will not stake claim to form a government as his party is short of a clear majority and would prefer to sit in the Opposition than indulging in any "horse trading".
"...Since I don`t have number I cannot stake my claim in forming my government in Delhi...Since I don`t have the magic number of 36, I really cannot be a part of the government formation in Delhi. And honestly, I think selflessly, I prefer to sit in the opposition, try and help any government that is there in the offing by anyone and support them for the people`s cause," he said.
The BJP leader added, "It was my hard luck that BJP could not get complete majority in Delhi."
BJP today emerged as the single largest party with 31 seats. But it is still short of the majority mark of 36 in the 70-member Assembly. The second largest party is the newly formed Aam Aadmi Party with 28 seats. Congress got only 8 seats. One seat each has gone to an Independent, JD(U) and Shiromani Akali Dal, which is an ally of BJP.
The options for BJP are to either stake claim to form the government or wait for Lt Governor Najeeb Jung to invite its leader Harsh Vardhan to do so as leader of the single largest party.
However, the catch is that the Lt Governor is likely to ask a BJP government, so invited, to prove its majority in the house within a specified time. Given the composition of the House, it is unlikely that BJP would be able to prove its majority unless there are defections from the Congress or AAP which may not happen.
On AAP`s remarkable performance, Harsh Vardhan said, "It seems that masses now want that their leader`s image should be clean. I would like to congratulate Arvind Kejriwal ji. I also accept that BJP underestimated AAP."
