The Aam Aadmi Party said on Sunday that the final announcement on whether it will form a government in Delhi will be made Monday after the party gets the opinion of Delhiites.
“Lot of public meetings are going on today (Sunday), including four in my own constituency (New Delhi). We will make the declaration tomorrow (Monday) morning only after we get the opinion of the people,” AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal told reporters here.
“This is for the first time that such a thing is happening in India. Earlier, the common man’s role was limited to just voting but we are going out to them and making them feel empowered,” he added. “We are the talk of the town. This is true democracy.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the single largest party with 31 seats in the 70-member house, has declined to form a government. The AAP netted 28 seats and was invited by the Delhi Lt.Governor to form the ministry, but has sought time to reply.
The Congress party was routed in the Delhi elections, winning only eight seats. It offered outside support to the AAP.
Mr. Kejriwal rebuffed allegations that AAP was hesitant to form government as it was not sure whether it would be able to fulfil the promises made in its election manifesto.
“We will deliver whatever we assured in our manifesto. It (the manifesto) was prepared after wide consultations and a lot of thought went into it.”
“Moreover, the people of Delhi are expecting much more from us and we will perform,” he said.
Mr. Kejriwal said that if the party did form the government in Delhi, the promised date of Dec 29 to pass the Lokpal bill in Delhi will have to be postponed by a week.
“A lot of time has been lost in the process to form government. If we do form government, the date to pass the bill will have to be shifted by around a week. But we will definitely pass it,” said Mr. Kejriwal.
Before the Delhi assembly elections, Mr. Kejriwal had claimed that his party, if voted to power, would pass the Jan Lokpal Bill at Ramlila Maidan, the venue of some strong rallies and fasts in support of the anti-graft legislation, here Dec 29.
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