Arvind Kejriwal met MK Stalin in Chennai along with Bhagwant Mann.
Chennai:
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met his Tamil Nadu counterpart MK Stalin on Thursday, seeking support in his campaign against the Indian central government’s controversial ordinance, which aims to assert control over administrative services in the nation’s capital.
“If the elected government does not have control over the bureaucrats, then there is no point in having an elected government. For the first time in history, they nullified a Supreme Court order. This is unconstitutional and undemocratic,” Mr Kejriwal said after the meeting that was also attended by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, also from AAP.
“This ordinance will come in the monsoon session. In the Rajya Sabha they have 93 seats, if all non-BJP parties come, then we will be able to defeat them. I am grateful for MK Stalin’s support. Every passing day, I’m feeling more and more confident and this is the semi-final to 2024,” he added.
The meeting was part of Mr Kejriwal’s nationwide tour initiated last month, aimed at rallying opposition parties against the ordinance and bock it in the upper house of parliament, where they have more seats than the BJP and its allies.
Mr Kejriwal, who leads the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), is scheduled to meet Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Friday as part of this ongoing effort.
When asked if these discussions were part of coordinating the opposition, Mr Stalin had stated earlier in the day, “That effort is already on.” He emphasised that this was not a new development and assured that the DMK would be involved wholeheartedly.
The Delhi Chief Minister had announced the meeting a day earlier on Twitter, stating, “Will be meeting Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin in Chennai tomorrow (1st June) to seek DMK’s support against Centre’s unconstitutional-undemocratic ‘Anti-Delhi’ Ordinance”.
Mr Kejriwal has already met several influential political figures, including Mamata Banerjee, Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, Nitish Kumar, and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav.
Mr Kejriwal’s campaign comes in the wake of a major legal victory on May 11 when a five-judge constitution bench, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, ruled in favour of the Delhi government giving it control over the appointment and transfer of bureaucrats, excluding public order, police, and land affairs.
This decision ended a longstanding dispute dating back to 2015 between the centre and the Delhi government.
However, within days, the central government issued a special order or ordinance, bypassing the court’s ruling. The ordinance established an authority responsible for the transfer and posting of senior officers in Delhi, circumventing the recent court verdict.
