Minutes after the concluding the meeting of its Political Affairs Committee, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday said that it is ready to form the new government in Delhi and its leader Arvind Kejriwal will be the new chief minister.
Announcing the decision, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said, “Aam Aadmi Party has decided to stake claim to form the government in Delhi. I am going to meet Lieutenant Governor in this regard o inform him about the party’s decision.”
Kejriwal also told reporters that he wants to take oath as Delhi Chief Minister and wants the swearing-in ceremony to be held at Jantar Mantar.
Minutes ahead of him AAP leader Manish Sisodia said, “Aam Aadmi Party will stake claim to form government in Delhi. Arvind Kejriwal will be our Chief Minister.”
“74% people in Delhi favoured AAP forming a government in Delhi, “ Sisodia said, “257 out of 280 public meetings have been in favour of AAP forming govt in Delhi.”
The announcement in this came shortly after the AAP’s political affairs committee met this morning to discuss the results of the public referendum on whether or not to take Congress support in forming government in Delhi.
Kejriwal is now due to meet Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung to apprise him about his party’s stand on ending the political stalemate in Delhi.
Meanwhile, noted social activist Anna Hazare today extended his best wishes and blessings to Arvind Kejriwal – once his close aide.
After five days of a virtual referendum on whether or not AAP should form a minority government, there were enough indications – but no announcement – that the one-year-old AAP was ready for the plunge.
Officially, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia, who could become a minister if Kejriwal forms a government, told that the final decision would be taken only Monday morning.
“I can’t say now if we will indeed form a government,” he said late Sunday. “We still need to hold a few meetings. The final decision will be taken only on Monday.”
Kejriwal said earlier Sunday that “a major announcement” would be made Monday. The party said the activist-turned-politician would meet the media Monday before meeting Jung.
As the party’s campaign to elicit a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ from people in the capital on government formation entered its final phase, the AAP said that most voters favoured an AAP government.
“Majority of the feedback we have received is ‘yes’,” spokesperson Ashwathi Muralidharan told reporters.
The party has got responses from over 6.5 lakh people through SMS, interactive voice response (IVR), Facebook and the AAP web site, she said.
Separately, AAP held public meetings in some 270 municipal wards across Delhi where too most people rooted for an AAP government by raising their hands, party leaders said.
A former Indian Revenue Service officer whose social activism won him the Ramon Magsaysay award, Kejriwal indicated that his party was readying to take power with Congress backing.
