LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav extended support to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Admi Party (AAP) against the Centre’s ordinance on control of services in the national capital. The Delhi CM along with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and other leaders of his party met the SP chief here on Wednesday.
“The ordinance is anti-democratic. I want to assure CM Arvind Kejriwal that the Samajwadi Party is with you and will support you,” Yadav said at the press conference.
Kejriwal has been reaching out to leaders of non-BJP parties to drum up support against the ordinance so that the Centre’s bid to replace it through a Bill is defeated when it is brought in Parliament.
“I just had a long talk with Akhilesh ji. You know the subject of what we discussed... The people of Delhi did a long struggle... They vote, they elect a government and they expect and hope that the elected government is free,” Kejriwal said at a joint press conference with Yadav and Mann. “In May, by issuing a notification, the Narendra Modi government snatched all our powers. The control that a government has on officers, bureaucracy, disciplinary action on them in case they don’t work properly, action against officers if they are corrupt, creation of a new post, regularisation of them…all these powers were snatched by the Modi government by issuing a notification,” Kejriwal added.
The Centre on May 19 had promulgated the ordinance to create an authority for the transfer and posting of Group-A officers in Delhi, which the AAP government had called a deception with the Supreme Court verdict on control of services.
Kejriwal reiterated that if non-BJP parties come together then the ordinance can be defeated in the Rajya Sabha and it will send a strong message that the Modi government is not coming to power in 2024. “I thank SP chief Akhilesh Yadav who has assured us that his party will support us in the Rajya Sabha,” the Delhi CM said.