New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday dissolved the Delhi Assembly, thus making it mandatory for the Election Commission to hold elections in all the 70 seats of the House within the next six months.
The process for the November 25 byelections to three seats Mehrauli, Tughlaqabad and Krishna Nagar has now been revoked by the EC.
While the Congress and BJP have decided to contest without projecting chief ministerial candidates, the AAP is set to enter the fray under the leadership of its convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
Gearing up for the Assembly polls in a bid to recapture power, Kejriwal has said he will be the party’s “face” for the election campaign and indicated that he will be the chief ministerial nominee.
Kejriwal, who led AAP to a stunning debut in the Assembly polls in December last year, said there was no reason why there would be a change in chief ministerial nominee though a final decision on it would be taken by the party.
“There is no reason why there would be a change,” Kejriwal said, adding the party will take a final decision on the issue.
There was confusion in the Congress over news channel reports that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi had included controversial leaders Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler in his nine-member election team for Delhi.
All through the day the Congress was in denial mode, suggesting no such committee had been formed for the Delhi elections. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra termed Mr Gandhi’s reported decision as “shocking”.
The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee said giving prominence to Mr Kumar and Mr Tytler would be suicidal for the Congress.
A day after the Union Cabinet ratified lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung’s recommendation to dissolve the Delhi Assembly, the home ministry issued a notification saying Mr Mukherjee had dissolved the House with immediate effect. Fresh elections will end the political hiatus since the 49-day AAP government resigned in February.
While the AAP has decided to contest under the leadership of Mr Kejriwal, the saffron brigade would be banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charisma to ensure a comfortable win for government formation.
The Congress too has decided to contest under its collective leadership by not naming any CM candidate.
Delhi Congress spokesperson Mukesh Sharma was the first one to deny formation of any such committee. “No such election committee has been formed by Rahulji. These are mere rumours being cooked up by those who are afraid of facing elections.”
After Mr Sharma, it was Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely who denied the formation of any such committee. Asked whether Mr Sajjan Kumar and Mr Tytler were part of any recent meeting held by Mr Gandhi, Mr Lovely said: “They have every right to meet our top leadership.”
