Amid talks on opposition unity, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy, Tejashwi Yadav will meet Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday. This comes after the Bihar CM met his Delhi counterpart on Sunday amid the row over the Centre’s ordinance regarding the ‘control of services’ in the national capital.
Soon after the meeting, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav addressed the media. Speaking on the issue, Bihar CM said, “How can powers given to an elected government be taken away? It’s against the Constitution. We stand with Arvind Kejriwal.”
“Will hold meetings in the future as well, we are trying to bring together all opposition parties in the country,” Kumar added. The Delhi CM said, “Today, in a meeting with Nitish Ji, he said that he stands with the people of Delhi, on the issue of the Centre bringing an ordinance negating SC order in favour of Delhi.”
“In case, the Centre brings this ordinance as a bill, if all non-BJP parties come together it can be defeated in Rajya Sabha. If such a thing happens, it can send a message that the BJP government will be out in 2024,” Kejriwal added. Taking a swipe at the BJP government, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav said, “BJP is troubling the non-BJP governments. The central government is doing an injustice to Arvind Kejriwal. We stand with them. Discrimination is not fair. We will not let this happen,” he said.
To further gather support against the Centre’s move, the AAP national convenor will also meet former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray on May 24 and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on May 25, according to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). On Friday, the Union government brought an ordinance to notify rules for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) regarding the ‘transfer posting, vigilance and other incidental matters’.
The ordinance has been brought to amend the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 and it circumvents the SC judgement in the Centre vs Delhi case. Meanwhile, the Bihar CM had also attended the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka’s new Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru after Congress party’s landslide victory in the state.
After the results, Kumar had told reporters, “Efforts are underway to unite the opposition as it would be in the interest of the whole nation.” “They (Congress) had a massive win (in Karnataka). If Opposition parties come together, that will be in the interest of the nation, efforts are underway for that,” Kumar had said.
Nitish Kumar has been meeting Opposition leaders to “strengthen the bloc” against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Kumar had caught the national imagination with his pitch for a “united opposition” which he believes, can take on and defeat the BJP in next year’s Lok Sabha polls.
