Wednesday, December 25, 2013

'All Set For Swearing-In Ceremony For AAP's Arvind Kejriwal'

By Kajol Singh | Delhi

President Pranab Mukherjee has accepted Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung's proposal on government formation by Aam Aadmi Party. The Home Ministry has now sent the President's communication to Najeeb Jung. "It is up to the L-G to decide the date of swearing-in after holding consultation with Chief Minister designate," the Home Ministry said.

Kejriwal had on Wednesday said the swearing-in ceremony is unlikely to be held on Thursday as he has not received a call from Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung yet. Kejriwal said he will invite anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare to the national capital once the date of the swearing-in ceremony is announced by Najeeb Jung.
The AAP said it has already started working on its manifesto. Kejriwal said that 700 litres of free water will be provided to all families within 24 hours of their taking charge. They are also working on implementing their electricty tarriff promises.

"We have already started working on our manifesto implementation and data collection has started. A lot of issues will be sorted instantly. 700 litres of water will be made free within 24 hours," asserted Kejriwal.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Congress too clarified that it will provide outside support to the Aam Aadmi Party as promised. "There is no change in the official stand. Congress will lend outside support to AAP as promised earlier," Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely told INN Live.

The political uncertainty over Delhi deepened as Congress on Tuesday said that the party is divided over the outside support given to the AAP and some of its leaders feel that it would have been better if the party had sat in the Opposition. Sources said that the Congress is rethinking giving support to AAP.

"The mandate was not for Congress, may be we should sit in the Opposition," party General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said. "There is an opinion in the Congress that perhaps the decision to support AAP for government formation is not correct. Perhaps we should have played the role of opposition and raised people's issues," Dwivedi added.

Congress workers had on Monday protested at the party office in Delhi over its decision to give support to the AAP. The protesters raised slogans 'Anna ke sath dhokha, hum nahi denge Kejriwal ko mauka (Anna betrayed, we won't give a chance to Kejriwal) while demanding the immediate withdrawal of Congress support to AAP.

But AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said the Congress's reluctance to provide unconditional support to AAP doesn't bother him. "If Congress is rethinking its support to the party then it is their problem. Earlier, Congress said its support is unconditional. We wan't to make an issue based government," Kejriwal said.

This even as the Congress had earlier offered unconditional support to the AAP in forming Delhi's next government.

Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party also played down reports of a rift over Cabinet berths. AAP MLA Vinod Kumar Binny, who had threatened to revolt against the party after he was denied a Cabinet berth, has now come out officially denying it all.

"They may be having a different role for me. My meeting with Kumar Vishwas was a routine meeting. We are not here to become ministers and CM. We are here to serve the country," Binny said on Wednesday. "I have never said I am upset and I am not holding any Press Conference today," Binny added.

Kejriwal, too, denied the rift saying, "When Binny spoke to me he told me he does not want any position and wants to work for the nation. When we went to his place he said there is no issue. There is no problem."

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