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Kejriwal gets Thackeray’s support against ordinance on Delhi
Mumbai: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday got the support of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray against an ordinance promulgated by the Union government to curb the administrative powers of the Delhi government
Mumbai: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday got the support of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray against an ordinance promulgated by the Union government to curb the administrative powers of the Delhi government.
Kejriwal, who is on a visit to Mumbai to garner support for his campaign against the ordinance, said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will not win the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, if the Opposition manages to defeat the ordinance in Rajya Sabha. Extending its support to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Sena (UBT) has decided to oppose the ordinance in the Parliament.
Kejriwal said, “Prime minister Narendra Modi government’s ordinance about Delhi is anti-democratic and Thackeray has promised to support us against it. When the bill comes for vote in Rajya Sabha, it will be a test of unity of all the parties,” said Kejriwal.
“If the bill doesn’t pass in the Rajya Sabha, the Modi government will not come back to power in 2024,” he added.
Kejriwal along with Bhagwant Mann, Punjab chief minister, Atishi, Delhi education minister, and Preeti Sharma Menon, Mumbai chief of AAP, met Thackeray on Wednesday at his residence ‘Matoshree’ in suburban Bandra. Sanjay Raut, Thackeray faction MP, was also present at the meeting.
Kejriwal said that Thackeray and his party are the worst sufferers of the BJP’s bid to pull down the governments run by the Opposition parties. Thackeray faction has three MPs in Rajya Sabha.
He slammed the Modi government for bringing an ordinance notifying rules for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) regarding the transfers and postings of bureaucrats, vigilance and other incidental matters.
He added that by bringing this ordinance, Modi is giving a message that he doesn’t follow the Supreme Court’s orders.
Slamming the Centre over the ordinance, Thackeray said that despite the Supreme Court order, the BJP government is taking such anti-democratic decisions.
“All the parties in the country, who love the nation and have faith in democracy and the Constitution, should come together. I would not say this as an Opposition alliance but in fact, the BJP should be called the ‘Opposition’ as they oppose democracy and the Constitution. So, we all should fight against the anti-democratic, anti-India BJP,” he said.
Kejriwal alleged that the BJP uses three tactics to topple the governments of opposition parties. “The BJP tries to purchase the MLAs of the ruling party to form its own government. They tried this with AAP MLAs in Delhi but failed. If the BJP fails to purchase MLAs, they try to threaten them using the central agencies like ED and CBI.
“The third way the BJP uses to harass the governments of other parties is by taking away the power to rule through various means. The ordinance is an example of this. In Punjab, to harass our CM Bhagwant Mann, the Governor had denied permission for the budget session,” said Kejriwal.
Thackeray said, “We have come together to wake up the people, who are sleeping, to save democracy in the country. If we miss the opportunity in 2024, there will be no democracy in the country after that. Shiv Sena and Matoshree are known for respecting relationships beyond politics.”
Meanwhile, Madhav Bhandari, vice-president of Maharashtra BJP, ridiculed the allegations made by Thackeray and Kejriwal about his party.
“It is a big joke that leaders like Thackeray and Kejriwal, who do not allow internal democracy in their party, are criticising the BJP over the issue of democracy. Besides, their claims about the defeat of the BJP in Rajya Sabha and later, in the 2024 elections, is nothing but daydreaming,” said Bhandari.
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