At least five opposition leaders, who represented their respective parties at Friday’s meeting hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, disagreed with the AAP going into a sulk over the ordinance, which seeks to curtail the powers of the Delhi government.
CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar said, “It is very unfortunate that the AAP seems to be looking at the issue through the prism of rivalry with Congress in Delhi and Punjab.”
“All parties were unanimous in the condemnation of the ordinance. But the AAP leadership must place the issue in a broader context. It is about the attacks on the Constitution and the principal of federalism by the BJP government, a reason why we all buried our differences and joined hands,” he asserted as quoted by PTI.
“The Congress, too, was with us in criticizing the ordinance which aims at snatching power away from an elected government. In all probability, all parties present at the meeting will vote against a bill seeking to replace the ordinance. The Congress may just be taking its own time to make a public announcement to the effect,” said CPI general secretary D Raja, a veteran leader who was among those present at the meeting.
Similar views were expressed by People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti, one of the two delegates from Jammu and Kashmir, the other being Omar Abdullah of the National Conference.
“Arvind Kejriwal did raise the issue of the ordinance at the meeting. Nobody flinched from criticising the ordinance. I also did not hold a grudge against his party having voted in favour of scrapping of Article 370. Though the agenda of the meeting was opposition unity,” she said.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal said Rahul Gandhi to let go of any misunderstandings and work together for the future, as there appeared to be uncertainty surrounding the Congress’ position on the Delhi ordinance proposed by the central government.
“Arvind Kejriwal spoke directly to Rahul Gandhi (on the ordinance matter) and said if there is any issue, they can resolve it over tea. In the opposition meeting on Friday, Kejriwal said there is a need to forget the differences and move forward together,” a party source said.
(With PTI inputs)
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Updated: 25 Jun 2023, 11:25 AM IST