Former Finance minister P Chidambaram termed the Delhi Services Ordinance wrong during a press conference in Mumbai on Monday.
“It is not a question of supporting or not supporting Kejriwal. Despite the two Supreme Court judgements, they now put power in the hands of the L-G. Whether it is legal or not, I have a view and the matter will go to the Supreme Court. On this issue, I am very clear that the ordinance is bad.
“But what stand Congress will take in Parliament when the Ordinance comes up for discussion, I cannot answer that. Only Mr Kharge and the leadership can answer that,” he said.
Incidentally, Chidambaram had in 2018 appeared for the Delhi government before a Supreme Court Constitution bench, which had ruled in favour of the Kejriwal-led Delhi Government stating that the Delhi Lt Governor was bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers
Chidamabarm’s comments came on a day when Congress leaders from Delhi and Punjab warned their party against supporting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in its fight with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the ordinance giving the Centre control over bureaucrats posted to the national capital.
Congress leaders met party president Mallikarjun Kharge and former Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi to convey their concerns but then ‘left it to the high command to take a final decision’.
Last Tuesday, senior Congress leader Ajay Maken said that his party should not support AAP on the control of services issue as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s past political engagements raise questions.
In a Twitter post Titled “An Examination of Reasons to Not Oppose the Ordinance – Administrative, Political, and Legal Aspects”, Maken said that supporting the AAP’s position on the issue will go “against the decisions and wisdom” of leaders including BR Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Lal Bahadur Shastri, and PV Narasimha Rao.
Delhi Congress chief Anil Chaudhary had also said his party ought not to support Kejriwal because of the latter’s mistake of praising the BJP earlier.
The Congress has yet to announce its stand on the issue when it is taken up in Parliament in the next session.
Earlier, Congress general secretary (administration) KC Venugopal said they are deliberating on the issue.
The ordinance was issued on May 19, days after a May 11 Supreme Court verdict gave the Delhi government control over bureaucrats assigned to departments under its purview. Any ordinance needs to be passed by Parliament within six weeks of its reassembly, or it lapses.
Meanwhile, AAP convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has reached out to several opposition leaders over the past few weeks in a bid to garner support for his cause.
The AAP lacks the numbers to defeat the Ordinance in the Lower House but is hoping support from outside can help it win in the Upper House.
While Kejriwal is optimistic about support from Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party, the Shiv Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray and Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, the Congress is yet to confirm its support, with the party’s Delhi and Punjab figures firmly opposed.
To defeat the BJP and its allies, Kejriwal needs the Congress’ 31 Rajya Sabha MPs; Trinamool’s 12 Rajya Sabha MPs, the NCP and others on his side. The BJP has 93 Rajya Sabha MPs and the NDA has 110 out of a total of 238 members.