Stating that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) faces a "dharma sankat" (moral dilemma), Arvind Kejriwal said the party would decide on government formation after ascertaining the opinion of the people of Delhi.
He asked people to communicate their opinion through SMSes, phone calls, social media and jan sabhas to be organised by party candidates across the city till Sunday. The results would be made public on Monday, he said. "If Delhi says AAP should take Congress support and form the government, we will do so, " he said.
The party said it had received 3 lakh SMSes and 35,000 online responses by Tuesday night.
Referring to the AAP's "moral dilemma", Kejriwal, in a letter addressed to the "Dillivaasi", said, "If the corruption of the Congress and BJP, as well as their divisive and communal politics, gave rise to the AAP, how can we take their support? But some people say that AAP is running away from responsibility, that AAP should run the government for as long as these parties allow it. If they bring it down, we should go back to the people who will teach them a lesson.
"Some colleagues say we shouldn't accept support from the Congress and BJP and should go for a re-election. Others say the Congress will behave itself till the Lok Sabha elections and we should form the government and show what we can do. We want to know from you what we should do. This party does not take decisions behind closed doors and is not the party of the few, but the aam aadmi. Whatever you say, we will do."
Speaking to mediapersons, Kejriwal said, "We will make 25 lakh copies of the letter and distribute it. Every municipal ward will have a jan sabha, and opinions will be taken. This cannot be done in a hurry. Even if President's Rule is put in place, we can stake claim if we have the numbers later."
Asked if the AAP would form the government in case of a split verdict, Kejriwal said, "No we will not."
Despite talking of an alliance, Kejriwal, in the letter, targeted both the Congress and BJP. "They (Congress) have replied to us and told us that 16 issues need no support, and they will support us on the remaining two issues. But the country knows how cunning the Congress is. They will bring down the government even if I cough too much. Everyone remembers how the Congress brought down Choudhary Charan Singh and Chandrashekhar governments by their political manipulation," said the letter.
Criticising the BJP for not replying to his letter, he said, even if "Rajnath Singh was a big man, he could have told someone else to reply, just like Sonia Gandhi did... This clearly shows that the BJP is only playing dirty politics. Neither do they have the well-being of people in mind, nor do they actually want to support us on issues."
In his letter to Sonia and Rajnath on Saturday, Kejriwal had sought their parties' stand on 18 issues. The Congress had replied on Monday stating that while 16 issues were outside the ambit of the legislature, it would support the AAP on the issues of the Delhi Lokayukta Act and demand for full statehood.
"Our offer of support still stands. We have also written to the L-G about it and we will continue to support them," said Mateen Ahmad, senior Congress leader.
"We do not know why they expect a reply from us at all. We have already said that we will sit in opposition and have no problem with the AAP forming the government," said BJP spokesperson.
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