Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed on Saturday said the Congress will reply to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal’s letter within the next two days, and added that the party will consider his conditions.
“He has written a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi and she has forwarded the letter to me, as I am the Delhi in-charge of the Congress,” said Ahmed.
“It is long letter, as he has raised more than 15 points in it. We will examine all the points and will get to him as soon as possible,” Ahmed added.
“In our letter to the Lieutenant Governor, we have clearly mentioned that if he (Kejriwal) has the intention to form the government, then, we are ready to support his government unconditionally. If he is not ready to form the government, then we cannot do anything,” he said in response to the Congress’s move to support the AAP for forming the next government in Delhi.
Earlier today, Kejriwal met Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and discussed the possibility of government formation in Delhi.
After the meeting, Kejriwal said, “Our stand is clear we will take no support nor will provide any support. We have written letters to Rajnath Singh and Sonia Gandhi, asking their stand on the important issues. The government in Delhi will be issue- based.”
Listing his 18 conditions, he said, “After their response on these issues comes in, we will hold meeting with the public and whatever their decision is, we will accept it. Whether the public wants a re-election or should we form government with support of the BJP and the Congress. This is what we have told the Lieutenant Governor.”
“No support is unconditional. Why are they suddenly offering support to our party? Congress is offering unconditional support and the BJP is offering constructive support. We will ponder upon it, once they reply to our letters,” he added.
On Friday evening, the Congress, in a letter written to Najeeb Jung, offered outside and unconditional support for the AAP to form the next government.
Earlier on Friday, AAP leader Yogendra Yadav confirmed the invitation by Lieutenant Governor and said: “The Lieutenant Governor has written a letter, inviting us for a discussion to explore the possibilities of forming the government in Delhi, at Raj Niwas on Saturday morning.”
“Arvind will go there and speak to them, though he has been keeping a little unwell, and we will keep our situation in front of them. We do not have a clear majority, and we will tell them that we cannot have a give and take relationship between us, as the AAP does not follow that ideology,” he added.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the single largest group in the 70-seat house with 31 members has refused to form a government.
The Congress says that a number of senior leaders of Delhi are of the opinion that the party should extend unconditional support to the Aam Aadmi Party to form a government in the national capital.
AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal, however, said that his party will neither take nor extend support to either BJP or Congress to form the government. He said, AAP is ready for fresh elections in the city.
Harsh Vardhan said, his party does not have enough numbers to form a stable government and is ready to fight the election once again. (ANI)