New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party will hold public rallies across Delhi and ask voters whether it should support the move to form a government with the Congress support or not. AAP leaders and MLAs will start the process of public consultation and hold rallies in every constituency to get the opinion of voters.
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal said the party will take people's view under consideration and will distribute 25 lakh copies of the letter among the people. He asked, "How can AAP form a government with Congress' support against whom they fought elections."
He added, "After taking replies from the people of Delhi, there will be 270 public rallies> Views of the people are being taken through social network also. On Monday we will look at the response and then reply to the Lieutenant Governor."
He said people can tell their views either through sms or can respond on the party's site.
On questions being raised over AAP's promises in the manifesto, he said, "Manifestos were written after consultations and the party can implement them."
Kejriwal also hit out at the BJP saying, "The BJP did not even find it worth replying to the AAP letter seeking response on 18 issues. If party President Rajnath Singh considered it below his prestige to respond to our letter, he could have asked someone else to respond like Congress President Sonia Gandhi."
"The Political Affairs Committee has met and decided to discuss the strategy ahead with all our MLAs. We will call for a meeting with our MLAs and discuss what our next move should be," said AAP MLA Manish Sisodia.
It has also reportedly commissioned a survey to gauge public opinion. The AAP, prior to the meeting, had said they are looking at the Congress's offer for support after the grand old party said that all 18 conditions set by the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit to form a government with its support are viable. Congress's Delhi in-charge Shakeel Ahmed said that 16 of the 18 conditions put forward by AAP don't need legislative approval.
Earlier on Monday, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung recommended President's Rule in the national capital as no party is ready to form a government, said sources. The Lieutenant Governor has sent a report to the Ministry of Home Affairs, saying Delhi Assembly be kept in suspended animation.
The report came in the backdrop of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the largest party in the Assembly, expressing its inability to form a government as it was short of four MLAs from the majority mark of 36 in the 70-member House. The second in line Aam Aadmi Party, with 28 MLAs, has also sought more time to try and form a government.
The badly fractured mandate does not leave any party with too many options. In the Delhi Assembly elections, the BJP and its allies won 32 seats, AAP got 28, Congress eight, JDU and an Independent won one seat each in the 70-member House leading to a hung Assembly.
The Lieutenant Governor's report also listed options before the Centre since no party is willing to form a government.
Here is the English translation of AAP's letter to the people seeking their views on whether they should take the support of Congress and BJP to form government in Delhi.
My Dear Delhiites,
The 'Aam Aadmi Party' and the 'broom' secured 28 seats in the recent Assembly elections in Delhi. We congratulate you all for this. This is the victory of the 'aam aadmi', truth and honesty.
But to make a government in Delhi, 36 seats are required. We are short of 8 seats. No one has got full majority in Delhi. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which believes in politics of defections and has bought legislators in Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, is now afraid to claim stake in making the government and is running from its responsibilities because of AAP's clean politics.
Meanwhile, the Congress has said that it is ready to give "unconditional support" to the AAP and the BJP, too, is saying that it wants the welfare of the people of Delhi and therefore is ready to give issue based support to AAP so that it can make the government.
We have not asked for support from both these parties, they themselves have started talking about giving us the support for free. We had earlier heard that it takes more Rs 10 crore to buy an MLA.
We should think about why the AAP came into being in the first place. AAP was formed to get rid of the politics of corruption, criminalisation and communalisation that had been perfected by the BJP and Congress. AAP has not been formed to attain power but to change the political scenario.
When the country was burdened by the corruption of both these parties, the common man formed the Aam Aadmi Party. In such a scenario how can AAP form government with the support of either of these parties?
But some people think that AAP is running away from its responsibilities. Why is AAP opposed to the support of these parties? This is because till the time these parties give the support, AAP can run the government and when they withdraw the support, elections will take place again. That day the voters will teach these parties a lesson.
Today, all parties are busy in trying to get to power by hook or crook. But we have not entered politics to attain power. We are the common man. The citizens of Delhi have some issues and they are very upset because of them. This is why we thought that if AAP has to make a government, it will make the government only after it gets consensus from all the parties on these issues. This is why we have written a letter to both the parties. We have noted down 18 such issues in the letter which have been troubling the common man. We have asked both these parties that if the AAP makes the government, will they give their support on these issues?
It is for the first time that a party is offering to make a government not to come into power but to make a government on the issues of the common man.
The BJP has refused to reply to our letter. BJP had earlier said that it will give support to the AAP for the welfare of the people of Delhi. It is now clear that the BJP was only playing dirty politics. Neither do they have the welfare of people in mind nor do they want to give support on the issues.
The Congress has replied and they have said that on 16 of the 18 issues, AAP will not require the support of Congress as the government can take those decisions itself.
The entire country is aware of how shrewd the Congress party is. When they want they will take back their support even if I sneeze. How can we make a government with the support of the party which has looted the entire country and the party which we are truly against? Everyone remembers how the Congress withdrew support form the governments of Chaudhary Charan Singh and Chandrashekar.
But some people say that with an eye on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Congress will not indulge in any mischievous activity as it is helpless. At least for six months Congress will not do anything to destabilise the government. In such a scenario the AAP should form the government in Delhi for six months and should implement the schemes which are beneficial for the people of Delhi.
We are now in a fix. Many members believe that we should not take the support of either of the parties and elections should be held in Delhi again. On the other hand, some members are of the opinion that we should make a government and show them what we can do.
We want to know from you that what we should do. Unlike other parties, we will not take decisions behind closed doors. We are putting this question to the people because AAP is not a party of a few individuals but of the common man of this country. We will do what the people want us to do. Your views in this context will be of prime importance. For sending us your views you can:
Send us an SMS: if your answer is Yes, type YES and if your answer is No, type NO and send it to 0880611335.
You can also call us on 08806110335 or log on to www.aamaadmiparty.org or www.facebook.com?AamAadmiParty. ####
AAP's Letter
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