NEW DELHI // The Indian anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal vowed on Sunday to clean up “dirty politics” in a speech suggesting that his party will team up with the Congress to form a state government in Delhi.
Mr Kejriwal, a former civil servant turned politician, has been under pressure to form a government with support from a major party since the performance of his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the December 4 state election.
The party won 28 of the 70 seats, trouncing the Congress party, which previously ruled the state but took only eight seats, and depriving the biggest winner – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with 31 – of an overall majority.
But Mr Kejriwal has been wary of accepting support from either the Congress, which leads the federal government, or the main national opposition BJP, after voters flocked to him because they were disillusioned with mainstream politics and angry at rampant corruption.
“If we form the government, we will pass an anti-corruption law and send corrupt BJP and Congress leaders to jail,” he told a rally in Delhi of several hundred supporters. “We are not after political power. We want to change the system and cleanse the dirty politics.”
Mr Kejriwal said he expected to make an announcement on forming the government on Monday.
The success of the AAP, only a year after its formation, signalled its emergence as a new political force which poses a threat to the two main parties in a general election due by May.
With the BJP declining to form a state government without an overall majority, the AAP was invited by Delhi’s governor to take on the job.
In an unusual move, it asked supporters whether it should do so, holding public meetings and urging them to telephone or SMS their views.
With Sunday the last day for supporter input, media speculation was mounting that Mr Kejriwal would finally team up with Congress.
The Hindustan Times newspaper and other media said the AAP has received an overwhelming response in favour of forming a new state administration.
* Agence France-Presse
