Ordinance row: Arvind Kejriwal meets CPI's D Raja in Delhi

New Delhi: The Centre's ordinance on control of services in Delhi will be among the key issues that will come up for discussion at an upcoming meeting of opposition parties, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday after meeting CPI leader D Raja to garner support against the government's measure.

The Communist Party of India (CPI) leader extended support to the Aam Aadmi Party on the ordinance issue, and said, "It is not just about the Delhi government, it can happen to any other government".

Addressing a joint press conference with Raja, Kejriwal said, "The 'Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023' gives bureaucrats the power to overrule decisions made by ministers, and gives Centre control over bodies like the Delhi Jal Board and Delhi Transport Corporation".

Extending support to the AAP, Raja said CPI has been demanding complete statehood for Delhi as well as Puducherry.

"What the Union Government has done with regard to the Delhi government is atrocious, and it violates all principles of federal governance in our country. It is in a way undermining the fundamentals of our Constitution. We oppose the ordinance with all might we have at our command. Whenever it comes in Parliament our party will oppose the ordinance," Raja said.

Asked if the issue would be raised at a meeting of opposition parties in Patna on June 23, Kejriwal said, "Not just raised, it would be one of the most important things on the agenda".  Maintaining that any state government can face a similar situation, he called for support from opposition parties.

"People of Delhi have defeated the BJP. They cannot win so they want to run the government through the back door," the Delhi chief minister charged.

The Centre on May 19 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.

Transfer and postings of all officers of the Delhi government were under the executive control of the lieutenant governor before the top court's May 11 verdict.

Following the ordinance, Kejriwal has been reaching out to leaders of non-BJP parties to garner their support against the ordinance so that the Centre's bid to replace it through a bill is defeated when it is brought in Parliament.