New Delhi: Stung by the massive defeat, Congress' Delhi unit chief JP Agarwal today said the party would analyse the reason for the debacle but refused to respond to criticism by Sheila Dikshit who has accused him of not enthusiastically backing her in the polls. Agarwal, who is not known to have a good equation with the outgoing chief minister, said the nature of defeat was "totally unexpected" which will be thoroughly examined by the party. "Dikshit is a senior and respected leader of the party," Agarwal sid when asked about Dikshit's comment on Monday that he did not back her fully in the election. Giving reasons for the defeat, she had also said that the party was not active and that there was absence of coordination between it and the government in Delhi.
"The party was not active enough," she had said elaborating that though her government had prepared a lot of documentation about the work done by it, the party merely told the people "bahut kaam hua (lot of work has been done)". That is not enough, she had said. Asked if she was blaming Agarwal, she had responded with a terse, "Well, if I am head of the government, I have to take that responsibility", suggesting that the DPCC chief should do the same. "I don't think so," she had replied when asked if Agarwal was fully with her. PTI 7.45 pm: Will obey high command decision on AAP: Congress MLAs The suspense over whether Delhi is looking at a re-election looks set to continue till Congress president Sonia Gandhi returns from South Africa. Gandhi is in Johannesburg to attend Nelson Mandela's memorial service. She is expected to be back in Delhi on Thursday. "We have left it to the high command to take a decision. There is no question of supporting the BJP. As far as AAP is concerned we are of the opinion that we should support it. But we will abide by whatever decision the high command will take," a Delhi MLA told Firstpost. AICC general secretary Shakeel Ahmed met the eight Congress MLAs today. On the outcome of the meeting, Ahmed said, "They have said in unanimity that whatever decision the high command takes, they will abide by it."
6.35 pm: BJP to prepare for fresh polls Nitin Gadkari has reportedly told newly elected BJP MLAs to prepare for fresh elections, since they do not have a majority in the hung Delhi assembly. The news has also been confirmed by party leaders to Firstpost. Don't consider yourself as MLAs but as candidates,” former party president Nitin Gadkari was quoted by Zee news as telling the legislators after the party finished with 31 seats in the 70-member assembly. One school of thought is that if elections are held again, then the Modi factor is likely to influence the BJP. This, the party feels, will be particularly impactful should the polls be held close to the Lok Sabha elections, or even after them, if the BJP wins. It is also thought that AAP is unlikely to perform as well as it has done if elections were to be held a second time in Delhi.
The BJP line of thinking is that now that people have vented their anger, they are likely to be more 'practical' and vote for the BJP the second time around. But of course what needs to be remembered is that the BJP have been consistently underestimating AAP. There is nothing to say that the party will not do well in a second round of elections, Modi factor notwithstanding. The BJP surely needs no reminding that the 'Modi factor' had very little impact on the ground in Delhi. The party barely bettered their vote share from the 2008 polls, and all those anti-Congress votes went to AAP. A lot of wishful thinking? But really, there is no other option for the party, given its decision not to indulge in horse trading. So for now it looks like Delhi will be left with an assembly in a state of suspended animation. And President's rule of course. Somewhere in all of this, Sheila must be smiling.
5.44 pm: BJP, AAP should form govt, says Digvijaya Singh Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh today supported Kiran Bedi's view that BJP and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) should form the next government in Delhi. "Yesterday, Kiran Bedi gave a brilliant suggestion. BJP and AAP should both form the government with a common agenda. Why not?," Digvijay said in a tweet. He said Kiran gave this suggestion on a television channel last night, where he was also present. "Both (BJP and AAP) have mandate of the people. 5.25 pm: Ready to support AAP says, Congress ABP news tweeted that the Congress was ready to support AAP. Shakeel Ahmed told the media that the Congress is ready to support AAP without any conditions.
"The party was not active enough," she had said elaborating that though her government had prepared a lot of documentation about the work done by it, the party merely told the people "bahut kaam hua (lot of work has been done)". That is not enough, she had said. Asked if she was blaming Agarwal, she had responded with a terse, "Well, if I am head of the government, I have to take that responsibility", suggesting that the DPCC chief should do the same. "I don't think so," she had replied when asked if Agarwal was fully with her. PTI 7.45 pm: Will obey high command decision on AAP: Congress MLAs The suspense over whether Delhi is looking at a re-election looks set to continue till Congress president Sonia Gandhi returns from South Africa. Gandhi is in Johannesburg to attend Nelson Mandela's memorial service. She is expected to be back in Delhi on Thursday. "We have left it to the high command to take a decision. There is no question of supporting the BJP. As far as AAP is concerned we are of the opinion that we should support it. But we will abide by whatever decision the high command will take," a Delhi MLA told Firstpost. AICC general secretary Shakeel Ahmed met the eight Congress MLAs today. On the outcome of the meeting, Ahmed said, "They have said in unanimity that whatever decision the high command takes, they will abide by it."
6.35 pm: BJP to prepare for fresh polls Nitin Gadkari has reportedly told newly elected BJP MLAs to prepare for fresh elections, since they do not have a majority in the hung Delhi assembly. The news has also been confirmed by party leaders to Firstpost. Don't consider yourself as MLAs but as candidates,” former party president Nitin Gadkari was quoted by Zee news as telling the legislators after the party finished with 31 seats in the 70-member assembly. One school of thought is that if elections are held again, then the Modi factor is likely to influence the BJP. This, the party feels, will be particularly impactful should the polls be held close to the Lok Sabha elections, or even after them, if the BJP wins. It is also thought that AAP is unlikely to perform as well as it has done if elections were to be held a second time in Delhi.
The BJP line of thinking is that now that people have vented their anger, they are likely to be more 'practical' and vote for the BJP the second time around. But of course what needs to be remembered is that the BJP have been consistently underestimating AAP. There is nothing to say that the party will not do well in a second round of elections, Modi factor notwithstanding. The BJP surely needs no reminding that the 'Modi factor' had very little impact on the ground in Delhi. The party barely bettered their vote share from the 2008 polls, and all those anti-Congress votes went to AAP. A lot of wishful thinking? But really, there is no other option for the party, given its decision not to indulge in horse trading. So for now it looks like Delhi will be left with an assembly in a state of suspended animation. And President's rule of course. Somewhere in all of this, Sheila must be smiling.
5.44 pm: BJP, AAP should form govt, says Digvijaya Singh Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh today supported Kiran Bedi's view that BJP and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) should form the next government in Delhi. "Yesterday, Kiran Bedi gave a brilliant suggestion. BJP and AAP should both form the government with a common agenda. Why not?," Digvijay said in a tweet. He said Kiran gave this suggestion on a television channel last night, where he was also present. "Both (BJP and AAP) have mandate of the people. 5.25 pm: Ready to support AAP says, Congress ABP news tweeted that the Congress was ready to support AAP. Shakeel Ahmed told the media that the Congress is ready to support AAP without any conditions.
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