Congress offers unconditional support to AAP to form govt in Delhi; AAP says no to offer

New Delhi: Congress on Friday sought to inject some life into government making in Delhi by offering unconditional support of its eight MLAs to Aam Admi Party which has so far expressed reluctance to take over reins of power.

The Congress sent a letter to Lt Governor Najeeb Jung offering unconditional support to AAP to form the next government in Delhi, stating the party would not like to put the burden on people of fresh election in the city. However, AAP leader Prashant Bhushan immediately ruled out accepting the offer from Congress saying it was not in the business of giving or taking support.

Reacting to the development, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley tweeted: "Congress offers to support Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) - the convergence of those who wear honesty on their sleeve with the not so honest."

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The Congress' offer of support came ahead of Jung's scheduled meeting with AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday at 10:30 AM to discuss government formation. 

Congress General Secretary in-charge of Delhi Shakeel Ahmed said the party conveyed to Jung that if AAP was ready to form the government, then it will extend outside support. 

"We have written a letter to the Lt Governor of Delhi saying if AAP is ready to form the government in Delhi then we will extend support from outside. All the eight Congress MLAs will support the government from outside," he said. 

DPCC president J.P. Agarwal said in the letter to Jung, the Congress has offered 'unconditional support' of eight Congress MLAs to the AAP so that a new government can be put in place at the earliest. 

"We have decided to extend unconditional support to AAP so that it can form a government. The people of Delhi must get a government. It is the responsibility of AAP now to form the government," Agarwal told PTI. 

But Bhushan was quick to reject it saying, "we are not going to accept support". AAP has 28 MLAs in the 70-member assembly and with Congress' support, it can reach the magic figure of 36. 

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On Thursday, Jung had invited Kejriwal for discussion on government formation. 

Earlier in the day, after a meeting of senior leaders, AAP leader Yogendra Yadav said when legislature party chairman Arvind Kejriwal meets Jung tomorrow, he will tell him that the party does not have the majority and was not inclined to form a government. 

On Thursday, BJP, which is the single largest party with 31 seats plus ally Akali Dal's lone seat, turned down the Lt Governor's offer for government formation.

After the meeting with Jung, BJP's chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan had said the party would like to sit in the opposition in view of the lack of clear mandate by people of Delhi. In a statement, Delhi BJP chief Vijay Goel said AAP should go ahead and form a government and BJP will provide whatever cooperation is required to it. 

The eight Congress MLAs had met Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday and conveyed to him that the party should extend support to AAP. Sources said the MLAs had conveyed to Rahul that they were not ready to face election anytime soon.