NEW DELHI: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday extended her party’s support to Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal on the issue of the Ordinance brought out by the Centre to regain control over the appointment and transfer of bureaucrats in the Delhi government.
The Congress on the other hand appears to be divided on the issue as its state leaders are strongly opposed to any move to support the AAP on the issue.
After meeting Kejriwal and his Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann in Kolkata, Mamata said that her party would back the Delhi CM in his fight against the Central ordinance.
She urged all Opposition parties to come together to defeat the Ordinance in the Rajya Sabha. The Ordinance has to be ratified by Parliament in six months.
“We support AAP in the fight against the Central ordinance. I urge all parties not to vote for BJP’s law on controlling appointments in Delhi. This will be a semi-final before the 2024 elections,” said Banerjee during a press conference.
The AAP and the Centre are at loggerheads over an Ordinance promulgated by the Centre last week to create a National Capital Civil Service Authority to transfer and post bureaucrats in Delhi.
Kejriwal has been seeking the support of all Opposition parties to oppose the ordinance, which he terms unconstitutional and usurps the powers of the Delhi government.
Kejriwal is scheduled to meet Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray and NCP leader Sharad Pawar on Wednesday in Mumbai. Earlier, he had met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who has fully supported the party.
Though Nitish Kumar met Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi over the ongoing efforts to forge opposition unity, Congress is yet to pronounce its stand on the issue of the Ordinance.
On Monday, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said that the party will consult its state units and take a call on the issue. However, its state units appear to be not on the same page in backing the AAP.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader from Punjab Partap Singh Bajwa, and Delhi leaders Ajay Maken and Sandeep Dikshit, took to social media and launched a scathing attack on the AAP.
In a lengthy Twitter post, former Union Minister Maken cited reasons, from administrative to legal and political, against supporting Kejriwal in his fight against the ordinance.