Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Saturday expressed his solidarity with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in opposing the Central government's ordinance regarding the control of services in the national capital.
Addressing a joint press conference after their meeting, the Telangana CM said, “The Centre is not letting the non-BJP governments function. In Delhi, the AAP is a very popular party. The AAP won the municipal elections. They (BJP) put hurdles and at last the Delhi government had to go to Supreme Court."
“The Supreme Court has given a clear direction that the officials must work under the Delhi government and not the Governor. If there is no respect for the SC judgment, we recall the days when emergency was imposed,” KCR added.
The BRS chief, urging Prime Minister Modi to withdraw the contentious ordinance, said, “We all support Arvind Kejriwal.”
Meanwhile, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal stressed that it was not only about Delhi, "but it is about democracy”.
"There was talk on the increasing dictatorship of BJP across the country. He assured that Bharat Rashtra Samiti will stand with the people of Delhi when the Modi government will introduce this black ordinance in the Parliament. For this, on behalf of the people of Delhi, I thank Shri Chandrasekhar Rao ji from the bottom of my heart," Kejriwal said.
Centre's ordinance overriding SC verdict
On May 19, the Central government issued an ordinance to establish an authority responsible for the transfer and posting of Group-A officers in Delhi. This move has been criticized by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who consider it a violation of the Supreme Court's recent verdict on the control of services.
The ordinance was introduced one week after the Supreme Court granted control over services in Delhi, excluding police, public order, and land, to the elected government. It aims to establish a National Capital Civil Service Authority specifically for the transfer and disciplinary proceedings of Group-A officers from the DANICS cadre.
Prior to the Supreme Court's ruling on May 11, the lieutenant governor held executive control over the transfer and postings of all officers in the Delhi government.
Kejriwal mobilising support to defeat the bill in Rajya Sabha
In the midst of the ongoing dispute between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and the Central government regarding administrative services control, Arvind Kejriwal has announced his intention to personally approach the leaders of various opposition parties. His aim is to garner their support to ensure that any bill introduced by the Centre to replace the existing ordinance gets defeated in the Rajya Sabha.
Earlier this week, Arvind Kejriwal held meetings with Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader, Uddhav Thackeray, the chief of Shiv Sena (UBT), and Sharad Pawar, the chief of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), seeking their backing on this matter.
