Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. (File Photo: Twitter/@ArvindKejriwal)
The decision came after the party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting in the national capital
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday announced that it would attend the opposition meeting in Bengaluru on July 17-18 after Congress decided not to support the Delhi ordinance.
The decision came after the party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting in the national capital.
Following the meeting, AAP Rajya MP Raghav Chadha said, “We discussed in the PAC that Delhi ordinance is anti-India… Arvind Kejriwal has asked for support from other political parties on it….many parties have supported us for it.”
“We aren’t going to support it (Centre’s ordinance),” said Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on Sunday.
“I think they (AAP) are going to join the meeting tomorrow. As for the ordinance (on control of services in Delhi), our stand is very clear. We are not going to support it,” he added.
The Congress party’s unclear stand on the Delhi ordinance issue was a major point of contention in the first opposition meeting held in Patna on June 23. The AAP had condemned the grand-old party for not supporting the Delhi government over the ordinance issue and said that it will not be attending any future meetings of the opposition if Congress did not change its stance.
With Congress’ backing, as many as 12 parties including Trinamool Congress, Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party, DMK have extended support to the AAP on the ordinance issue so far.
In May, the central government led by the BJP introduced an ordinance regarding the transfer and posting of bureaucrats in Delhi, effectively undermining a Supreme Court ruling that granted the elected government in Delhi control over matters related to services. The ordinance aims to establish a National Capital Civil Service Authority to oversee the transfer and disciplinary proceedings of Group-A officers from the DANICS cadre. Prior to the Supreme Court’s verdict on May 11, the transfer and postings of all officers in the Delhi government were under the executive control of the lieutenant governor.