A day before the scheduled meeting of Opposition leaders in Bengaluru, the Congress made it clear that it will “not support” the Centre’s ordinance on the control of services in Delhi, promulgated by the Centre on May 19 in a bid to nullify a Supreme Court order.
This comes on the backdrop of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stating that unless the Congress denounces the Ordinance, it would be “very difficult” for it to be a part of any alliance which involves the grand-old party.
Speaking to reporters, Congress general secretary of Organisation KC Venugopal on Sunday said, “We are consistently opposing the attempts of the Union government to sabotage federalism. We are consistently opposing the attitude of the central government to run the opposition states through the governors. Our stand is very clear, we are not going to support the Delhi ordinance.”
He added that the decision was taken at the parliamentary strategy meeting on Saturday.
Following the development, AAP leader Raghav Chadha welcomed the Congress’ “unequivocal opposition” to the ordinance and said, “This is a positive development”.
Meanwhile, AAP’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) is scheduled to hold a meeting today at 4 pm to discuss the Opposition meeting, reported The Indian Express. On the Bengaluru meet, AAP national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told reporters he can answer it only after the PAC meeting, which will also be attended by his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann via video conferencing.
On May 11, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, in a unanimous ruling said that the Delhi government has legislative and executive powers over administrative services in the national capital, except for services related to public order, police and land.
Later, in a bid to nullify the Supreme Court’s order, on May 19, the Centre promulgated the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023, to create a National Capital Civil Service Authority that will have the power to recommend the transfer and posting of all Group A officers and officers of DANICS serving in Delhi.
Meanwhile, the top court, on July 10, while responding to a petition by AAP government, refused to order an immediate stay on the Centre’s executive order controlling the bureaucrats posted in Delhi. However, the apex court has issued a notice to the Centre following the Delhi government’s petition.