Arun Jaitley writes on AAP, Congress tie-up: 'Each wants to outfox the other'

"The BJP as the largest single party in Delhi got only 32 seats.  It was clear that till it achieves a stable support of 36 MLAs it will not try and form the government.  The BJP in an upfront manner informed the Lt. Governor of this statistical reality. The party has reconciled to sitting in opposition or a fresh election.  

"The AAP got only 28 seats.  They were short of the magic figure needed to form a government.  There obviously was a temptation to make their presence felt nationally by forming a government in Delhi.  They went back on their commitment not to take the Congress support through a farcical referendum.

"The Congress Party was a clear loser in the election.  It got only eight seats.  Most of its leaders lost the election.   The Congress cannot afford an early re-election.  It needs breathing time to recover.  If no government had been formed in Delhi, a re-election could have been held along with Lok Sabha polls.  In that event, the ‘Modi factor' would also have influenced the outcome of the polls.  The election would have been polarized between the BJP and the AAP with the Congress getting squeezed out even more.

"It is here that a convergence of two contradictory interests took place.  The AAP needs the support of the 8 MLAs of the Congress to form a Government. Government formation would help it to prevent its MLAs getting scattered. Government formation in the national capital in its assessment would further enable it to make its presence felt nationally. The AAP knows that such a Government cannot be a lasting one.