Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, July 16: The Congress on Sunday made it clear that it would not support the Centre’s ordinance on the control of services in Delhi in Parliament and would oppose any such attempt by the central government to destroy federalism in the country.
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said the party’s stand is clear that it will oppose any such move by the Center to interfere in states ruled by opposition parties through Governors and has tabled a bill in Parliament on an ordinance relating to the control of services in Delhi. It has been decided to oppose it when presented.
He told PTI, “We are continuously opposing the efforts of the central government to end federalism. We are continuously opposing the attitude of the central government to run the states ruled by the opposition through governors. Our stand is very clear, we are not going to support the ordinance related to the control of services in Delhi”.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said the Congress’s apparent opposition to the Centre’s ordinance on control of administrative services in Delhi is a positive development. AAP MP and national spokesperson Raghav Chadha tweeted, “Congress announces its unequivocal opposition to the Delhi Ordinance. This is a positive development”
Congress announces its unequivocal opposition to the Delhi Ordinance. This is a positive development.
— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) July 16, 2023
Venugopal said the Congress usually convenes a meeting of its Strategy Committee of Parliament before the session to decide on important matters coming up in Parliament. Asked whether the Congress would support or oppose the Delhi ordinance, Venugopal said, “Yesterday, we had a meeting and we have already taken a decision. We will not support any attempt to destroy not only the Delhi Ordinance, but the federal system of the country and to interfere in the affairs of the state by using the Governor. Similarly, we are not supporting the Delhi Ordinance as well. It is very clear”.
With the Congress clarifying its stand on the Delhi ordinance issue, Venugopal hoped that the AAP would now participate in the upcoming meeting of the opposition in Bengaluru. The Congress leader said, “I think they are attending the meeting tomorrow. We believe so”.
However, AAP has not yet clarified whether they will attend the meeting of several opposition parties starting in Bengaluru on Monday. The party had earlier said that it would not attend any such meeting unless Congress supported it in opposing the Ordinance on Control of Services in Delhi in Parliament. In the first meeting of the opposition parties in Patna, a resolution was taken to oust the Bharatiya Janata Party from power in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
