Difficult to be part of future opposition meetings until Congress agrees to oppose ordinance in Rajya Sabha: AAP

After the meeting of Opposition parties in Patna, the AAP said it will be “difficult” to be part of such meetings in the future in which the Congress is a part, until the Congress agrees that all its MPs in Rajya Sabha will oppose the central government’s ordinance. 

After the meeting of Opposition parties in Patna, the AAP said it will be “difficult” to be part of such meetings in the future in which the Congress is a part, until the Congress agrees that all its MPs in Rajya Sabha will oppose the central government’s ordinance. 

“Today, during the like-minded party meeting in Patna, many parties urged the Congress to publicly denounce the Black Ordinance. However, the Congress refused to do so. Until the Congress publicly denounces the Black Ordinance and declares that all 31 of its RS MPs will oppose the ordinance in the Rajya Sabha, it will be difficult for AAP to participate in future meetings of like-minded parties where the Congress is a participant,” an official statement from the AAP said.

Though the AAP took part in the meeting in Patna, AAP leaders did not take part in a joint press conference by leaders of Opposition parties after the meeting.

But the party is yet to officially state why it did not take part in the joint briefing. 

On May 19, the Centre issued the ordinance that seeks to amend the Government of National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi Act, 1991 and effectively negates the May 11 Supreme Court judgment that gave the AAP government the power to make laws and wield control over bureaucrats deputed to the Delhi government, except for public order, police, and land.

Since then, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal has met different leaders including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, to seek support to defeat in the Rajya Sabha a Bill replacing the ordinance.

Before Friday’s Opposition meet, despite Mr. Kejriwal’s accepting publicly that he had sought an appointment with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for a discussion on the ordinance, Mr. Gandhi did not meet him.