Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said on Thursday that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam will oppose an ordinance that allows the Centre to have control over bureaucrats in Delhi, PTI reported.
“The Centre is creating a crisis for the Aam Aadmi Party and is preventing a duly elected government from functioning independently,” Stalin told reporters after a meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann.
On May 19, the Centre promulgated the ordinance to create the National Capital Civil Service Authority to administer the transfer and posting of bureaucrats serving the Delhi government. The ordinance nullified the May 11 Supreme Court verdict stating that the Aam Aadmi Party government in the national capital has legislative power over bureaucrats excluding the departments of public order, police and land.
Kejriwal has been holding meetings with leaders of Opposition parties to garner support against the ordinance. Since ordinances cease to exist if not approved by Parliament within six weeks of convening, the Centre will need to introduce a bill in the upcoming Monsoon Session to get legal status for its move. The Aam Aadmi Party has urged Opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha, where the BJP only has 93 members in a House of 238, to vote against the bill when it is introduced.
Also read: Centre’s ordinance on Delhi bureaucrats bypasses parliament, promotes its own political interests
On Thursday, Stalin urged chief ministers of states not ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party to support Kejriwal, PTI reported. “This ordinance should be collectively defeated in Parliament as it is undemocratic, against the federal structure and unconstitutional,” he said.
In a tweet posted after his meeting with Kejriwal, the Tamil Nadu chief minister said that his party has always opposed decisions that undermine federalism and erode the autonomy of states.
The Aam Aadmi Party has already got support in the Rajya Sabha from the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena, the Trinamool Congress and Bihar’s ruling coalition of the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Janata Dal (United). On Friday, Kejriwal is scheduled to meet Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
Earlier this week, the Delhi chief minister met Congress leaders as well, but reports suggested that they are not inclined to support the Aam Aadmi Party. However, the Congress has not made any official comment yet.
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