Hold fresh polls

DELHI HASbeen under the President’s rule since former CM Arvind Kejriwal demitted office on 17 February 2014. With no fresh elections, unfortunately enough, the state lies in suspended animation. Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party are right when they question the antics of the LG Najeeb Jung. Under no circumstances can the LG invite BJP, as the single largest party in the now 67-member Delhi assembly, after three of its MLAs got subsequently elected to the Indian Parliament. BJP had relinquished power after the 2013 Delhi assembly elections and had instead opted to be the opposition. AAP, which formed the government with outside support from Congress’ eight MLAs, was under scathing attack from both the political heavyweights always. Then, after Kejriwal decided to quit as Delhi CM and the state assembly was in an indeterminate state, BJP never really came forward to form the government. However, we must ask why when talks of fresh elections emerged, did BJP refuse to abide by the emerging sentiment? Evidently, saying they weren’t prepared for another round of polls isn’t good enough. Now with unsubstantiated reports of ‘horse trading’ surfacing from the shaky grounds of Lutyens’ Delhi, elections seem the only way out. Else, it would be a blatant mockery of the democratic setup. Elected custodians of the constitution should have been severely reprimanded for taking the holy grail of Indian governance to such shambolic levels. It’s obvious that AAP’s allegations that BJP may be getting involved in the dubious exercise of allegedly buying off MLAs can only be proved wrong, if BJP accedes to the demand of fresh elections in the national capital. When it has nothing to fear it should prove it by adhering to the law of the land.