The Congress party is yet to take a final call on whether to support the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi, where the latter is facing a crisis after its four MLAs were disqualified by the President on the recommendation of the Election Commission.
The Congress has said that it will consult its allies and state units before making any decision on extending support to the AAP, which has accused the BJP-led Centre of trying to topple its government.
“We have not taken any decision yet. We will talk to our allies and our state units and then decide,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told reporters on Monday.
He said that the Congress was against any “undemocratic” move by the Centre to destabilise an elected government.
“The BJP has been trying to destabilise the AAP government since it came to power in 2015. They have used various tactics like CBI raids, arrests of ministers and MLAs, and now disqualification of MLAs. We are against any such undemocratic interference by the Centre,” he said.
The Congress and the AAP have been bitter rivals in Delhi, where they fought a fierce electoral battle in 2015. The AAP won 67 out of 70 seats, while the Congress was reduced to zero. The BJP won three seats.
However, in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the Congress improved its vote share and came second in five out of seven seats, pushing the AAP to third place. The BJP swept all seven seats.
The Congress and the AAP had also held talks for a possible alliance before the Lok Sabha polls, but they failed to reach an agreement over seat-sharing.
The AAP is now left with 62 MLAs in the 70-member Delhi assembly, after four of its MLAs were disqualified for holding offices of profit. The disqualified MLAs are Kapil Mishra, Sharad Chauhan, Anil Bajpai and Devinder Sehrawat.
The AAP has challenged the disqualification in the Delhi High Court and has alleged that it was a “conspiracy” by the BJP to topple its government ahead of the assembly elections due early next year.
The BJP has denied any role in the disqualification and has said that it was done as per the law and the Constitution.
The BJP has also demanded that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal resign on moral grounds and face fresh elections.