Arvind Kejriwal has launched a vast awareness campaign with opposition parties.
New Delhi:
Congress today indicated that while it agrees in principle that the Center’s Executive Order on Transfers and Postings to Delhi undermines the Supreme Court, it would prefer to make a collective decision on its position to stand. siding with Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi party in parliament. KC Venugopal, the party’s organizing officer, tweeted tonight that the party “will consult with its state units and other like-minded parties on the same matter.”
“The Party believes in the rule of law and at the same time does not tolerate unnecessary confrontations, political witch hunts and campaigns based on lies against political opponents by any political party,” he said. he stated in the tweet.
The Congress Party has not taken any decision on the matter of the order filed against the SC judgment on the powers of the Delhi NCT government to appoint officers. He will consult with his state units and other like-minded parties on this matter.
Celebration…
— KC Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) May 22, 2023
Sources told NDTV earlier that the party will support Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and oppose the Centre’s executive order during the monsoon parliamentary session, which begins in July. It would be the first time the party has offered unsolicited support to the AAP, with which it is at odds in Delhi.
On Sunday, senior Congressman Ajay Maken advised Mr Kejriwal to follow the “Sheila Dikshit model” of engaging with officers with respect, rather than “mistreating” them.
Sources, however, said central leaders are concerned about the BJP government’s “weakening of the Supreme Court” and its “efforts to overthrow democracy”. The order, they said, puts the chief minister on an equal footing with the chief secretary, giving him one of three votes in a decision. It also undermines an elected government, they said.
The order, passed late Friday night, overturns a recent Supreme Court order – which declared the elected government the boss of Delhi – and makes the lieutenant governor the final arbiter of the matter.
Congress had previously hailed the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment, which said that in a form of democratic governance, the power of the administration must rest with the elected arm. If officers fail to report to ministers or disregard their instructions, the principle of collective responsibility is affected, said the bench headed by India’s Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.
The judgment came after an eight-year struggle between the Center and the government of Arvind Kejriwal, following the Center’s decision to place the Department of Services under the control of the Lieutenant Governor in 2015.
The Center’s order last week establishes a National Capital Civil Service Authority, which is responsible for postings and transfers of bureaucrats stationed in Delhi. The Chief Minister, Chief Secretary and Principal Home Secretary will be members who can vote on matters. The final arbiter is the Lieutenant Governor.
Mr Kejriwal has started an extensive sensitization campaign with opposition parties, starting with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar yesterday.
He is expected to meet Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar on May 24-25 in Mumbai to discuss the plan to block the ordinance in the Rajya Sabha.
The bill on the issue is expected to reach parliament during the monsoon session and the BJP is confident that it will pass in both houses. The current membership of Rajya Sabha is 238 and the majority is 119. The NDA and the opposition currently have 110 seats.
In the event of opposition from Congress and other parties, a crucial role will be played by Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal and YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress. Both have 9 seats each and prefer to stay equidistant from the Congress and the BJP. Although they have given support to the government in the past, it is not yet clear in which direction they will lean on this occasion.
Recently, Naveen Patnaik specified that his party would not be part of the opposition front. The BJD, he said, would go it alone in the 2024 general election and “that has always been the plan”.