With the Union Cabinet endorsing the proposal by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung to hold fresh elections in the State, both the BJP and the AAP began a verbal war over the chief ministerial candidate. While the AAP said the next elections would decide who should be the Chief Minister — Arvind Kejriwal or BJP’s Jagdish Mukhi — the BJP retorted by saying it would fight the elections without a chief ministerial candidate. The Congress, while welcoming fresh elections, is yet to decide who will head its poll campaign.

As the Cabinet has recommended the dissolution of the Delhi Assembly, elections can be held within six months. There are indications that the elections will be held early next year.

Jung had recommended that the House be dissolved after meeting the three major parties — BJP, AAP and Congress — on Monday.

Thanking the Supreme Court for ensuring justice for the people, the AAP said it took more than eight months for the Centre and the LG to take a decision. Kejriwal said State BJP vice-president Sher Singh Dagar had created a formula of buying MLAs to make a government. “We defeated that formula not once, but four times,” he said.

The AAP leaders said the fight will be between Kejriwal and Mukhi, as the BJP has no credible face other than the latter. The party criticised the BJP for not projecting a CM candidate.

“Mukhi can’t win them the majority, so the leaderless BJP has no option but not to declare a CM candidate. The same BJP used to criticise the UPA for not declaring a PM candidate. This only proves that BJP and Congress are two faces of the same coin,” said an AAP statement.

When asked why this election will not be a contest between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kejriwal quipped that it is because Modi would not resign as Prime Minister and contest Delhi elections.

Communal hatred The AAP also accused the BJP of spreading communal hatred with an eye on the vote bank. “We shall resist this by the help of our ‘Aman Samiti’, which will try to bring together all religious groups and promote communal harmony,” the party said.

State BJP president Satish Upadhyay said his party will fight the elections collectively.

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