BJP leader Harsh Vardhan said that this is a betrayal to Delhi as Delhi voted against the Congress. BJP leader Harsh Vardhan said that this is a betrayal to Delhi as Delhi voted against the Congress.

AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal with party leader Manish Sisodiya waves at supporters after a party meeting at Kaushambi in Ghaziabad AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal with party leader Manish Sisodiya waves at supporters after a party meeting at Kaushambi in Ghaziabad

Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal interacts with supporters in New Delhi on Sunday. Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal interacts with supporters in New Delhi on Sunday.

Exactly eleven months after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was formed, its convener Arvind Kejriwal would be taking oath as the Chief Minister of Delhi on December 26.He went in his Wagon R to meet Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung on Monday and staked his claim to form the government. Like Kejriwal's unassuming persona, his Wagon R, his repeated refusal to have a security detail around him, even his swearing-in venue, which will not be held at the traditional Raj Bhavan but at Ramlila Grounds, has a stamp of his brand of politics.The Congress, which hopes to revive its graft-sullied image by AAP's magic touch, has a tough challenge ahead since AAP has made it clear that probing the Commonwealth Games scam is its top priority. Its only hope in this unlikely alliance is to pull the rug from under AAP's feet at a time opportune to give the grand old party a chance to malign the new entrant and grab all its goodwill. A tall order, yet the plan seemingly is this.Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, who had branded AAP early this year as "mango people in a banana republic", must have realised by now how fruit salads complement political combos in India.However, the party crying hoarse over this unexpected development is the BJP. Its plight has gone from being confused to being exasperated at having lost the plot.Last week, Delhi BJP's chief ministerial candidate Dr Harsh Vardhan replied to Kejriwal's 18-point letter seeking the saffron party's aid on the moot points of AAP's manifesto following the former's offer of unconditional support to AAP-with 14 questions of his own.Dr Harsh Vardhan said: "Eleven days have passed since the results of the elections were declared. Mr. Arvind Kejriwal had met the Lt. Governor five days ago but he is still playing hide-and-seek game with the people of Delhi. They are unable to decide how they shall fulfil the expectations of the people with which they voted for AAP. This party should clearly tell the people whether it will form the Government or not?"Holding Kejriwal guilty of overlooking the people's mandate by not staking claim to form the government in Delhi, Dr Vardhan said: "The bureaucracy is unable to do anything in the absence of any Government. This is hindering the progress of Delhi. The working of Government in the capital has completely stopped. Is not the AAP guilty for it?"The BJP's concern in coaxing AAP to form government seemed so genuine that it appeared for a while that it had already begun believing in fair politics.But that mirage was short-lived.On Monday, Harsh Vardhan called AAP's decision a betrayal of the people of Delhi. "Kejriwal has compromised his principles for power. This is a betrayal to Delhi as Delhi voted against the Congress," he said.After a short moment that betrayed a sense of regret followed by a gasp, seemingly of vengeance, he said, "AAP should now fulfil promises made."Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley was more vocal in his criticism of Kejriwal. In a blogpost, he wrote: "Political opportunism should have no place in alternative politics dictated by idealism. AAP may be concerned with the fact that many MLAs, including the AAP MLAs, do not want early polls. It may even be strategising on how to capture power, announce a few popular decisions and carve out a further positioning for itself. It has, therefore, decided to enact a farcical referendum. In effect, political opportunism is being masked with the idea of popular sanction behind it."What has forced the saffron party to make a U-turn on Kejriwal in a week's time? Is it afraid of the Ramon Magsaysay Award-winning activist-turned-politician's meteoric rise?Kejriwal has already shown the existing political parties despite their best intentions to write AAP off in the Delhi Assembly elections that he is here to stay. If he succeeds even to some extent in delivering to the people and showing them a glimpse of good governance, something they have not seen in decades, Kejriwal would emerge as a fearsome rival for any and everyone.The BJP, already on the wrong side of the political divide, must have realised a few good actions in Delhi might take the political battle in 2014 General Elections to Ahmedabad.