AAP has betrayed people by deciding to form govt with Congress: Harsh Vardhan

New Delhi – Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Harsh Vardhan on Monday called the Aam Aadmi Party’s decision to form a government in Delhi with Congress’ support, a betrayal to the people.

“This is a gross betrayal by the AAP to the people who have to decide about this government formation,” Harsh Vardhan said.

He further questioned the referendum done by the AAP, and said it wasn’t a foolproof method to evolve a consensus.

“This is not in the spirit of democracy,” he said.

He also said there had been a backdoor deal between the AAP and Congress and the people would take the final decision on the matter.

“The people will decide how the AAP has brought in the Congress through the back door and cheated the people, he said.

He wished AAP good luck and hoped it would be able to fulfill its promises to the people.

“Hope they are able to fulfill their promises to the people and hope they are able to deliver,” he said

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal earlier in the day said that the party has decided to form the government in Delhi with Congress’ support.

“We have got overwhelming participation of people during the public meetings. About 80 percent of them have favoured that party should form the government,” Kejriwal told media here.

AAP leader Manish Sisodia said that out of 280 jan sabhas conducted by the party, in 257 sabhas, people wanted the party to form the government in Delhi.

In a public meeting on Sunday, Kejriwal, whose one-year-old party had its roots in the anti-corruption movement, rebuffed allegations that his party was hesitant to form government.

“We will deliver whatever we assured in our manifesto. It (the manifesto) was prepared after wide consultations and a lot of thought went into it,” he said.

“This is happening for the first time in this country that people are being asked about their opinions about the formation of government. Earlier, the public was asked to go home as soon as the voting was done. Afterwards the leader would make deals inside their offices. But this time, we have indulged the public and have asked about their opinions,” he added.

The AAP had bagged 28 seats in the 70-member Delhi assembly. The BJP had emerged as the single largest party by winning 31 seats while the Congress had stood a poor third with eight seats.

The BJP decided not to form the government, following which AAP leaders met Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and sought 10 days time. The AAP then held a referendum to know from the people whether or not they should form a minority government.