Modi, Shah in favour of fresh polls

AAP chief and former Delhi CM

Arvind Kejriwal

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In last 8 months, every effort was made to "buy" our MLAs. They withstood all pressures n lived upto ppl's expectations. Salute to them — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 3,

Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay.

Delhi Congress leader Arvinder Singh Lovely.

NEW DELHI: The over-eight-month-long suspense over the fate of Delhi assembly and government has ended with the capital heading for fresh elections. On Monday, the three major political parties — BJP , AAP and Congress — informed lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung that government formation was not possible in the present circumstances and pressed for immediate dissolution of the assembly.The LG sent a report on the matter to President Pranab Mukherjee. According to a PTI report, the lieutenant governor has recommended the dissolution of Delhi assembly.This will mark the first time in almost a decade that assembly elections will be held in a state within such a short span. Bihar had gone to the polls in February 2005 and then in October 2005 under a similar set of circumstances.After a flip-flop over government formation that stretched over months, BJP finally told the LG, when he invited the party for consultations on Monday, that it would be unable to form a government. The LG’s invitation came three days after the Supreme Court commended his efforts for resolving the stalemate in the capital. The BJP, which is the single largest party in the assembly with 29 seats, including one ally, said it didn’t have the requisite numbers.Sources said PM Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah were also in favour of seeking a fresh mandate rather than trying to cobble together a majority. With its government at the Centre and the party performing very well in Maharashtra and Haryana in the recent assembly elections, BJP is confident of getting an absolute majority in Delhi.Even winning all three seats in bypolls would not have helped BJP return to office in the state after a gap of 15 years. Three seats — Tughlaqabad, Krishna Nagar and Mehrauli — in the 70-seat assembly fell vacant after three BJP MLAs were elected to the Lok Sabha. For full majority, a party would have needed at least 36 seats, a number none of the parties was able to muster.Though fresh polls are now certain, the process of bypolls will continue till Election Commission of India strikes down the notification, which may not happen till next week. This means that political parties will have to declare their candidates for the bypolls before the last date of filing nominations on November 5.The stalemate ended after Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay and Janakpuri MLA Jagdish Mukhi, for the first time, communicated the party’s stand to the LG. Though the BJP had turned down the offer to form a government in December last year, citing lack of numbers, it had continued to “explore all possibilities” after its sterling performance in the Lok Sabha elections, especially in Delhi.The unwillingness of MLAs, irrespective of their political affiliation, to go for fresh polls had given BJP hope that it may be able to form either a minority government or get outside support. Finally, after months of speculation and allegations by AAP that BJP was trying to poach its MLAs, the party took the moral high ground and turned down the LG’s offer.After quitting the government on February 14 this year, AAP had approached Supreme Court seeking a direction to LG to dissolve the assembly. The party met the LG on several occasions to ask for resolution of the crisis and even approached the President to press for its demand. On October 28, SC had pulled up the LG and Centre for their delay in finding a solution though two days later, the court appreciated the LG’s “efforts”. The next date of hearing is November 11.The BJP decided to clarify its stand after it was unable to mobilize support.“We have communicated our stand to the LG. Our stand has always been clear, right from the beginning. We will not indulge in horse-trading to form a government. We are ready for elections. It is Kejriwal who has time and again changed his stand. It was his party which had gone to LG to defer dissolution of the assembly after the Lok Sabha results," said Upadhyay, who kept his meeting with the LG a secret till late Monday evening.On Monday morning, the LG’s office’s had initially invited all three parties to meet him at 7pm. By afternoon, rumours emerged that BJP, led by Upadhyay and Mukhi, had already met the LG. The party refused to clear the air, prompting AAP to suggest that it might not even meet the LG. AAP demanded that the LG clear the air on his meeting with BJP before inviting other political parties. Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Patparganj MLA Manish Sisodia finally met the LG at 6pm.“The LG told us that BJP has submitted a letter to him claiming that it doesn’t have the numbers. AAP has pressed for immediate dissolution of the assembly and we hope that elections will take place as soon as possible," said Sisodia.Congress legislature party member Haroon Yusuf met the LG in the afternoon to say that the party not only wants the assembly to be dissolved with immediate effect but also wants the elections to be held with Jharkhand and J&K in December, said Yusuf.Going by procedure, the LG will dissolve the assembly as soon as the President gives the go-ahead. Following this, the Election Commission of India will schedule polls and quash the process of bypolls. Elections can be held anytime within six months of dissolution of the assembly.