BJP, AAP prepare for fresh polls as logjam continues

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Press Trust of India New Delhi
Last Updated : Dec 10 2013 | 9:12 PM IST
Two days after elections threw a hung verdict in Delhi, there was no breakthrough in formation of a government with both BJP and Aaam Admi Party refusing to budge from their rigid stand of sitting in the opposition and saying that they would prefer fresh polls to end the logjam.
In a meeting, senior leaders in BJP told its 31 newly-elected MLAs to get ready for election in next few months while AAP's Arvind Kejriwal announced that his party was ready to seek people's mandate again.
After he was formally elected leader of the legislature party, BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan said the party did not have the numbers and that it was ready to face elections.
"We don't have enough numbers to form a stable government and we are ready to fight the election once again, if such a situation arises," Vardhan told reporters after the first meeting of the newly-elected legislators.
BJP, along with its ally Akali Dal's one seat, has 32 MLAs in the 70-member House while AAP has got 28 seats followed by Congress' eight. JD-U has won one seat while the Mundka seat has gone to an Independent.
Kejriwal, after a meeting with top AAP leaders, also announced that the party was ready for fresh election and said as the single largest party, BJP should form the government and take support from Congress.
"We are ready for it (re-election). At present, we will neither take nor extend support to either BJP or Congress to form the government. But unlike this election, next election would be contested between BJP and AAP, as Congress has lost badly," he said.
"BJP has been given the mandate. It is the single largest party. So it should try and form the government taking support of Congress," he said.
Meanwhile the Election Commission today notified results of the Assembly polls in Delhi, paving the way for start of the formal process of government formation by the Lt Governor.
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First Published: Dec 10 2013 | 9:12 PM IST

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