NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken on Tuesday strongly opposed extending any support to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on the issue of the Centre’s ordinance on the administration of services in the national capital.He said that if all previous Delhi chief ministers could perform their roles without creating any fuss, why was Arvind Kejriwal stirring up chaos? He asked whether it was mere political posturing.
Kejriwal has sought the support of various political parties on the Delhi services issue and on Tuesday met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. He also sought Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s support during their meeting earlier this week.He is appealing to other parties too for support on the issue. The AAP has said that rejecting the proposed legislation to replace the ordinance will be a litmus test for the opposition unity.Maken, a former Union minister who headed the Delhi Congress, put out a long statement, titled “an examination of reasons to not oppose the ordinance - administrative, political, and legal aspects”.
He said that Congress should not oppose the proposed legislation to be brought in Parliament on the Delhi services issue, replacing the ordinance promulgated by the Centre last week. The ordinance for setting up a National Capital Civil Service Authority for the transfer of IAS and DANICS cadre officers and disciplinary proceedings against them virtually negated the May 11 SC order that ruled in favor of AAP government.Maken said that primarily, cooperative federalism principles don’t fit in Delhi’s context.
Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa endorsed Maken’s viewpoint and said the party high command should not support Kejriwal on the issue as he deserves no sympathy.“Aam Aadmi Party and Arvind Kejriwal deserve no support or sympathy from the Congress. AAP’s Punjab government has launched ruthless witch-hunt against Punjab Congress leaders and workers and has made their lives hell by misusing the police and investigation agencies,” he said.
Will work for Bill getting rejected in RS: CM
CM Arvind Kejriwal said he will be meeting leaders of various political parties to ensure that a bill related to Centre’s ordinance nullifying the Supreme Court order on services matters is not passed in the Rajya Sabha. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has announced that it will hold a “maha rally” at Ramlila Maidan here on June 11 against the “black ordinance”.