Minority govt possible in Delhi, says SC

Terming lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung's move to talk to all political parties on forming a government in Delhi as 'positive', the Supreme Court has give him time till November 11.

Terming lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung's move to talk to all political parties on forming a government in Delhi as "positive", the Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned hearing on the matter to November 11.

"There could be a minority government with outside support of a political outfit. Let us wait for some time," the Supreme Court said while hearing a plea from the Aam Aadmi Party on dissolving the assembly and holding fresh polls in Delhi.

Referring to recent media reports, a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu said, "Whatever I have read in newspapers, it appears that the L-G has made positive moves."

The bench asked Prashant Bhushan, counsel for AAP, to file a plea seeking dissolution of the Assembly, to wait for sometime as the L-G had started the consultation process with the political players in the national capital and adjourned the matter till November 11.

During the brief hearing, the bench also comprising justices J Chelameswar, A K Sikri, R K Agrawal and Arun Mishra, said that if the LG feels that there is a possibility of government formation, then he should be given time to explore it.

L-G Najeeb Jung, who returned from abroad Wednesday, had met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and called the BJP, Congress and AAP to discuss any possibility of forming a government.

"In view of the President's approval to explore the possibility of installing a popular government in Delhi, the Lt Governor would be exploring the possibilities with the leaders of all political parties over the next few days," LG's office had said.

BJP, which is the single largest party, is yet to give any clear signal on its strategy but there were indications that the party was preparing for fresh polls in January or February.

Sources said BJP president Amit Shah and Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Rajnath Singh were in favour of the party forming a government while some others were of the view that it should not run away from polls when Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rating was high.

"There is a possibility of the party turning down offer of government formation," a senior party leader told PTI.

The L-G's decision to begin consultations with the political parties came a day after a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu slammed the Centre and the Lt Governor for delay in taking a decision on government formation in Delhi.

AAP and Congress had come down hard on Jung, questioning his move to hold consultation with the parties when it was clear that no party was in a position to provide a stable government.

Currently BJP, along with ally Akali Dal's lone MLA, has 29 legislators and will require the support of five more MLAs to prove majority in the 67-member assembly if it decides to form the government.

( with PTI inputs)