Nitish meets Kejriwal amid ordinance row

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 21

The ordinance issued by the Centre for control of bureaucracy in Delhi has brought the Opposition closer with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday calling on his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal and pledging all possible support in the fight.

Editorial: Delhi’s power tussle

Kejriwal, who called for unity of the Opposition to defeat the ordinance once a Bill replacing it is introduced in Parliament, said he would soon meet West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray to seek support in his fight with the Centre.

Kejriwal said the defeat of the ordinance in Parliament would be like the semifinal for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Importantly, National Conference vice-president and former J&K CM Omar Abdullah, while reacting to Kejriwal’s appeal for Opposition unity on the issue, reminded the latter of the stand AAP took at the time of abrogation of Article 370 in J&K in August 2019.

“What has been done to Delhi is a travesty and goes against the spirit of cooperative federalism. That said, it’s a shame the AAP didn’t realise the danger of its actions when it happily sided with the BJP in August 2019. J&K was dismembered and reduced to a Union Territory and the people have been disenfranchised for five years. Sadly, your chickens have come home to roost now,” Omar tweeted in response to AAP MP Raghav Chadha’s tweet.

Chadha had earlier tweeted, “What next? A constitutional amendment that any state that votes to power a non-BJP government will be stripped of its legislature and transformed into a centrally administered territory?”

After meeting Nitish Kumar, Delhi CM Kejriwal said, “Opposition must unite to defeat this dictatorial ordinance of the Centre — in the Rajya Sabha. If we succeed in thwarting this unconstitutional ordinance in the Rajya Sabha, it will be akin to the semifinal of 2024.”

Arvind Kejriwal added that the AAP had the support of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav.

Bihar CM Nitish — expressing shock over the ordinance — has said that he firmly stands with Kejriwal. “The Constitution clearly states that a state government cannot be bossed around by the Centre. What the BJP is doing at the Centre is shameful. This is the reason I am travelling around the country uniting all the Opposition parties.”

Meanwhile, Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav said, “The Union Government has been troubling all the Opposition-ruled state governments across the country. This shows that there is a threat to the democratic principles on which this nation has been established.”

Will unite Oppn against govt move

The Constitution clearly says the state can’t be bossed around by Centre. What the BJP is doing is shameful. I will unite all Opposition parties against it. — Nitish Kumar, Bihar CM