In Congress Support To AAP, Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee's Big Role

The Congress has been on the fence on the Ordinance after sharp opposition from its Delhi leaders,

The Congress agreement today to back Aam Aadmi Party against the Centre's executive order on Delhi bureaucrats, has brought the opposition unity efforts from crash-landing before a take-off. Sources attribute it to the behind-the-scenes work by two top opposition leaders. The first is Nitish Kumar -- who volunteered to bring the opposition under the same umbrella. The second is Mamata Banerjee, who lent her weight to the issue at a critical juncture.

The Congress has been on the fence on the Ordinance after sharp opposition from its Delhi leaders, including Ajay Maken. But Arvind Kejriwal's party made it clear that a "yes" from Congress about joining the battle in parliament was a pre-condition for its attendance in the next opposition meet in Patna.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge had made it clear that his party is still mulling the issue and will make its stance clear – eventually. But with days to go for the beginning of the monsoon session, AAP signalled that it would not budge without a clear statement from the Congress.