Congress leaders oppose support to AAP over Centre’s Ordinance

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said the Aam Aadmi Party will seek the support of non-BJP political parties against the Centre’s Ordinance on the control of civil services in Delhi in a bid to stall it in the Rajya Sabha.

The AAP and the BJP-led Union government have been locked in a bitter tussle since Friday, when the Union government promulgated an Ordinance to create a National Capital Civil Service Authority (NCCSA) which will handle the transfer of IAS and DANICS cadre officer, as well as overseeing disciplinary proceedings against them. It also designates the Lieutenant Governor as the administrator of Delhi who will have the final say on the postings and transfer of all bureaucrats serving the Delhi government.

The Ordinance was introduced to amend the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991- it also circumvents a Supreme Court order from last week which gave control of services, excluding those related to police, public order and land, to the elected government in Delhi. Mann attacked the Union government for introducing a “dictatorial” Ordinance and accused it of allegedly interfering in the rights of states. Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal called the ordinance “undemocratic and illegal,” alleging that it “attacks the basic structure of the Constitution.” Kejriwal is slated to meet Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai to seek support against the Centre’s ordinance on the transfer of bureaucrats in the national capital.

Following the AAP’s announcement, Congress leaders from Delhi and Punjab met in New Delhi to discuss the Ordinance. Partap Singh Bajwa, Ajay Maken and Sandeep Dikshit were among the attending leaders. According to sources, the party opposed extending support to the AAP government in Delhi. Bajwa, who is Congress legislative party leader in the Punjab assembly, accused the AAP government of being instrumental in giving a political edge to BJP in some states and Congress should “not protect a wolf in the sheep’s clothing”. “@AamAadmiParty & @ArvindKejriwal deserve no support or sympathy from @INCIndia. @AAPPunjab govt has launched ruthless witch-hunt against @INCPunjab leaders and workers and has made their lives hell by misusing the police and investigation agencies,” Bajwa said in a tweet. “I appeal to INC high command to consult the leadership of Punjab, HP, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Gujarat & Karnataka before even considering helping AAP…[it] is the B team of BJP and they are two sides of the same coin,” he added.