Stepping up pressure on the Congress, general secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist) Sitaram Yechury appealed to the party to support their political rival Aam Aadmi Party’s efforts in Rajya Sabha to defeat the Bill replacing the Ordinance on the posting and transfers of civil servants in the national capital on Tuesday (May 30), after a meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other Aam Aadmi Party leaders.
Mr. Yechury said that the inter-party differences should be set aside and called the May 19th ordinance a direct attack on India’s Constitutional values.
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“The danger is no longer that we will have an autocratic regime, if we don’t resist, we will have a fascist regime to contend with,” he said. Congress leaders from Delhi and Punjab have told the party leadership to not support AAP in its fight against the Ordinance and further urged the party president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi not to meet Mr. Kejriwal.
Singling out the Congress, Mr. Yechury said, “I appeal to Congress that to save our Constitution we should all together.” He also cautioned that Delhi could be just one of the first examples of interference from the BJP ruled Union government.
“They (BJP) are trying to destabilise Opposition-led governments in the State. The same fate that has befallen on Delhi, could happen in Congress-ruled Rajasthan or the Left parties-ruled Kerala. We have to be vigilant,” he said. The CPI(M) on its part, Mr. Yechury said, will support the AAP’s fight against the ordinance and will vote against the government Bill.
According to sources, Mr. Kejriwal has been trying to meet Mr. Gandhi for the last three-months but hasn’t received a response. Addressing a joint press conference with Mr. Yechury, Mr. Kejriwal said that he has read the Congress reactions so far in the newspapers. “The issue is not whether the Congress should meet me or not. I am not important. This issue is to save our democracy, to fight for Delhi voters who have been squarely insulted by the Union government and to defend our constitution,” he said.
