BJP seeks to dodge govt call before polls

Expressing its disapproval at Delhi being without an elected government for an extended period, the court had on March 7 asked the BJP and Congress whether they could form one.

A bench led by Justice R M Lodha had issued notices to both the parties while observing that the possibility of the two parties coming together to form a government could not be rejected offhand. The court had fixed March 31 as the next date of hearing to take up their responses.

However, the BJP on Friday circulated a letter praying for additional two weeks to submit its reply. While no such request has been formally made by the Congress, it has not filed its counter-affidavit in the matter either.

The Aam Aadmi Party, which has challenged the imposition of President’s rule in Delhi, sees the BJP’s request for deferment of hearing as a ploy to delay taking a stand till polling is held in Delhi.

AAP counsel Prashant Bhushan told Newsline that they will fight any endeavour by the BJP or Congress to delay the matter tooth and nail in court.

“It is clear that the BJP wants President’s rule to continue in Delhi. Neither the Congress nor the BJP is in a state to form the government but they do not want a fresh poll since that would benefit AAP. They are now seeking to employ their political tools in the courtroom too but we will defeat their attempts,” he said.

On March 7, the court had expressed concerned over the Assembly being kept under suspended animation for long since, as per Constitutional provisions, no election can be held in Delhi for at least a year from now. It had noted such a situation was “harmful for democracy”.

“In this situation, we will issue notices to both the BJP and Congress. Issue notices to them to know their position,” the court had said, fixing the matter for March 31.

The court, which had earlier kept the two parties away from the hearing to prevent the case becoming a “political contest”, decided to know their stand after noting that neither party had made its position clear on formation of the government following Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation.

On AAP’s argument that the BJP and Congress could never come together, the court had said: “Today’s enemy can be tomorrow’s friend and in fact can be a best friend. In politics, neither the friends nor the enemies are permanent.”