Speculation rife on Centre's position on Delhi government formation

New Delhi, Oct 8: Ahead of the next Supreme Court hearing on government formation in the capital, there has been speculation about what would be Centre's position on the issue before the apex court on Friday.

Reviewing the political situation yesterday, the BJP had indicated its readiness to face fresh elections instead of capturing power without having a clear majority.

Amid speculation about Centre's next move, a source in BJP claimed that the Centre had indicated to Lt Governor Najeeb Jung to take a call on government formation in the city.

However, government sources did not confirm it. The Supreme Court on September 9 had asked the Centre to apprise it on October 10 the outcome of the process undertaken by Jung on government formation in Delhi, saying "alleged horse-trading" will continue if a decision is not taken.

On September 4, Jung had sent a letter to President Pranab Mukherjee seeking permission to call BJP, the single largest party, to take a shot at power though it is well short of majority in the Assembly.

Asked what the party would do if the Lt Governor invites BJP to form government, a senior leader of the party said it might turn down such an offer.

BJP, along with its ally Akali Dal's one MLA, has 29 MLAs in the Assembly and will require support of five more legislators to prove majority in the House.

BJP had won 31 seats in the 70-member Assembly but the number of BJP MLAs came down to 28 as three party legislators Harsh Vardhan, Ramesh Bidhuri and Pervesh Verma had resigned from the Assembly after they were elected to Lok Sabha.

Following resignation of the three legislators, the strength of the Assembly had come down to 67.

PTI