Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president M.K. Stalin on Thursday said that the DMK will strongly oppose the Ordinance promulgated by the BJP-led government at the Centre, to effectively nullify the Supreme Court judgement, which said Delhi’s elected government and not its Lieutenant-Governor had powers over managing the services of the bureaucrats.
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Addressing the media after a meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who had come to Chennai to seek DMK’s support against the Ordinance, Mr. Stalin appealed to Chief Ministers of other States and leaders of national parties to oppose the Ordinance when the Union government attempts to pass it as a Bill in the Parliament.
He said the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not allowing Delhi’s elected government to function independently and was continuously troubling the government, its Chief Minister Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The “healthy discussion” he had with Mr. Kejriwal was towards protecting democracy. “Such coordination is needed to protect democracy. That is my wish,” he said.
When asked about the coming together of Opposition parties against the BJP ahead of the 2024 election, Mr. Stalin said both he and the Congress party had expressed inconvenience over the date [June 12] on which Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has planned a meeting of the Opposition leaders. He said he has requested that the date be changed. He added that Mr. Kejriwal has also assured to discuss with Mr. Kumar regarding the change of date.
Mr. Kejriwal said he was grateful to Mr. Stalin for his warm welcome and assurance to oppose the Ordinance. He said the Ordinance was unconstitutional, undemocratic and against the federal structure. This was perhaps the first time in India that the Union government passed an Ordinance to nullify a SC judgement, issued by a five-judge Bench.
He also said with every passing day, he was becoming more confident that they will be able to defeat the Bill in the Parliament. “He [Mr. Stalin] has assured us that the DMK will stand by the elected government of the AAP, the people of Delhi, and help us in defeating this Bill and vote against it,” Mr. Kejriwal stated.
While the BJP has majority in the Lok Sabha, he said it had only 93 members in the Rajya Sabha where the total strength is 238. “If all the non-BJP parties come together, we can defeat this Bill in the Parliament,” he said.
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Equating this attempt by the Opposition to defeat the Bill as a semifinal match, he said if the Bill is defeated, it will send a strong message across the country that the Opposition has come together and the Mr. Modi-led government will not return to power in 2024.
He expressed confidence that the Congress will also extend its support against the Ordinance. The AAP chief said he has sought appointments with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge, but they were yet to respond.
When asked to what extent AAP will be willing to accommodate the Congress in a united Opposition, he said such “nitty-gritties” will be worked out in the meeting planned by Mr. Kumar.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of the AAP, who was also present at the meeting, said the need for a united fight against the Ordinance was not just related to Delhi, but for protecting democracy.
The AAP has been trying to garner support of other Opposition parties to defeat the Bill replacing the Ordinance on the posting and transfers of civil servants in the national capital.
On May 19, the Union government brought the Ordinance designating the Central government-appointed L-G as the administrator of Delhi, who will have the final say on the postings and transfer of all bureaucrats serving in the Delhi government.
The Ordinance, promulgated by President Droupadi Murmu, seeks to amend the Government of National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi Act, 1991 and effectively negates the May 11 Supreme Court judgment that gave the Mr. Kejriwal-led AAP government the power to make laws and wield control over bureaucrats deputed to the Delhi government.
Mr. Kejriwal is scheduled to meet his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren on Friday to seek support to defeat the Bill.
(With inputs from New Delhi)
