NEW DELHI: Arvind Kejriwal, the chairman of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi, met with his counterpart in Jharkhand, Hemant Soren, on Friday to seek support against the Center's ordinance control over administrative services in Delhi.
In addition, Kejriwal issued a stern warning to the Congress party, telling it to choose between "PM Modi and the 140 crore people of the country" or "democracy, the constitution, and the party."
On May 23, the Delhi chief minister set out on a cross-country trip to enlist the help of the opposition parties against the Ordinance.
He has already met Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, MK Stalin of Tamil Nadu, Uddhav Thackeray of Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav of Bihar.
Jharkhand In the ordinance controversy, CM Soren pledged support for the AAP and blasted the government at the centre, calling it a "attack" on the nation's "federal structure."
"This ordinance is an attack on the federal system of the country as well the idea of Unity in Diversity. The Central government talks about federal structure but acts totally opposite. It is clear today that parties that are not the allies of BJP are facing almost the same situation. It is a matter of concern. The common people also play a huge role in Democracy," Soren said.
Soren added, "So, this is not just an attack on the government but also on the people. We will have a deep discussion on the issue within the party as well and will work on how to proceed against this (ordinance) democratically. They (AAP) have raised voice against the ordinance and I hope that they succeed in their movement."
While addressing the news conference, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann criticised the federal government and claimed that the BJP was attempting to "impose" its policies on the elected governments of the state.
"Our movement is against the attempts of murdering the democracy in the country. We saw how our wrestlers had gone to immerse their medals. If timely voices are not raised, soon the ashes of democracy will have to be immersed," he said.
"The way ordinances are brought and the Governor imposes their decisions on the state governments. It has become 'Elected vs Selected'. BJP want to impose their 'selected' candidate upon those 'elected' by the people. We all agree that we have to come together to save the democracy", CM Mann added.
The Union government introduced an ordinance on May 19 to inform the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) of the laws surrounding "transfer posting, vigilance and other incidental matters."
The Supreme Court's ruling in the Centre v. Delhi case is disregarded by the ordinance that was introduced to alter the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991.
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