Advani dismisses AAP, says no place for third party

BJP leader L K Advani today dismissed the prospects of Aam Admi Party in the Delhi assembly election, saying there is "no place for a third party" here.

"Though we could not have a two party system in India, we (BJP) have ended single party dominance in the country and changed it into a bi-polar polity. But there is no place for a third party here," Advani told reporters.

He was asked about the challenge posed by Aam Admi Party led by Arvind Kejriwal which will make its electoral debut in the December 4 election in Delhi.

"I believe Delhi voters have a lot of wisdom. If we could not win the last time it was not due to them but because we must have had some shortcomings," he said and asked the people to vote BJP back to power in the Delhi Assembly elections as it has been in exile for more than 14 years.

He, however, evaded the issue of full statehood to the national capital, saying in a federal polity the issue needs to be debated and the party will take a call once it is voted to power.

Advani said that a Bill on giving full statehood to Delhi was mooted during his tenure as Union Home Minister. However, the legislation never saw the light of day.

"In a federal system, whether giving full statehood to a state is desirable or not is a debatable issue. In Delhi, today we have reached the state where we have an Assembly. Earlier it started with a Metropolitan Council....," Advani said.

Advani was the Speaker of the Metropolitan Council of Delhi in 1967.

"Let us form a government and then we will sit down and think over this issue," Advani said.