Ordinance on Delhi services: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann called on former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray at his Mumbai residence on Wednesday. Thackeray’s son, Aaditya, was also present. The Delhi CM is meeting Opposition leaders to drum up support against Centre’s Delhi ordinance.
After meeting Uddhav, Arvind Kejriwal said Uddhav Thackeray has promised to help the Aam Aadmi Party government in blocking the government’s special order taking control of Delhi’s bureaucrats. “Uddhav Thackeray has promised us that they will support us in parliament and if this bill (ordinance) does not pass in the Parliament then in 2024, the Modi government will not be coming back to power,” Kejriwal said.
Thackeray said, “We all have come together to save the country and democracy. I think we should not be called ‘opposition’ parties, in fact, they (centre) should be called ‘opposition’ since they are against democracy and the constitution.”
Speaking to the media, Kejriwal said, “When the coronavirus pandemic was at its peak, the way Uddhav ji controlled it in Maharashtra was commendable. Today we discussed the way the central government is mortgaging the country to save the capitalists.”
Speaking about the mayoral election in Delhi, the chief minister said: “The people of Delhi have given us a chance. The BJP has put hurdles in the mayoral election.”
“Uddhav ji’s party has been stolen, name and symbol have been stolen. But I want to say one thing, his father was a lion, Uddhav ji is the son of a lion. Whole Maharashtra is with them. We hope the Supreme Court will give justice,” Kejriwal said.
The Delhi and Punjab chief ministers were accompanied by party colleagues Sanjay Sharma and Raghav Chadha.
On Tuesday, Kejriwal met West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee . On Thursday Kejriwal, Mann and other AAP leaders will meet NCP chief Sharad Pawar. The visits are part of effort to drum up Opposition unity against Centre’s Delhi ordinance.
Mamata assures support
In her meeting with Kejriwal on Tuesday, Mamata Banerjee assured that her party would support him in his fight against the central ordinance to control appointments and transfer of bureaucrats in Delhi.
The Delhi CM said on Tuesday that a forthcoming vote in the Rajya Sabha on a bill to convert the central ordinance into law will be a “semi-final before the 2024 elections.”
Kejriwal said the saffron party “buys MLAs, uses CBI, ED to try to break” opposition governments, besides using Governors to disturb non-BJP governments such as in “Bengal, Punjab, Telangana and Andhra”.
Mockery of democracy
He said, “BJP has made a mockery of democracy” where it cannot form a government, it buys MLAs, uses CBI, ED to try to break the government. It uses “Governors to disturb non-BJP governments such as Bengal and Punjab”.
He said “This (contest in the Parliament) will be a semi-final before the 2024 elections.”
The AAP government in Delhi and the BJP have been on loggerheads over the Central government ordinance on Delhi. The new ordinance takes away the control of services from the Delhi state government and gives them to a committee which would be effectively controlled by the Centre.
Last week the Centre submitted an order designating the Lieutenant Governor as the last arbiter in the matter. Earlier the Supreme Court had decided that the Delhi government has administrative jurisdiction over “services,” including the Indian Administrative Service.
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