Congress Blinks First Ahead Of AAP's Crucial Meet Over Opposition Unity

The opposition parties are expected to meet in Bengaluru tomorrow to bring together 24 non-BJP parties and provide a common platform against the BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Congress appears in no mood of taking any chance and giving the BJP any slightest opportunity in the run-up to the 2024 Loik Sabha polls. The Aam Aadmi Party has called a special Parliamentary Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting at 4 pm to discuss the Opposition meeting scheduled to be held in Bengaluru. It was speculated that the AAP will decide whether to join the opposition bloc or not as the Congress was indecisive on supporting AAP on the issue of the Central ordinance brought by the Modi government. Sensing that any anti-statement by AAP may prove harmful to opposition unity, the Congress today decided to oppose the Central ordinance in the Rajya Sabha. 

"I think they (AAP) are going to join the meeting tomorrow. As for the ordinance (on control of services in Delhi), our stand is very clear. We are not going to support it. We have been continuously opposing the attempt by the Union Government to sabotage federalism. We are consistently opposing the attitude of the central government to run the state through the governors. Our stand is very clear," said Congress general secretary KC Venugopal.

Reacting to the Congress party's decision, AAP leader Raghav Chadha termed it positive development. While the AAP leader and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal met several opposition leaders and state chief ministers including Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin and K Chandrashekar Rao and secured their support against the Central ordinance, the Congress was not clearing its stand on the issue due to which the AAP has been critical of the grand old party.

The central government on May 19 had issued an ordinance to bypass a Supreme Court verdict which gave AAP government the control of the capital's bureaucrats. 

The opposition parties are expected to meet in Bengaluru tomorrow to bring together 24 non-BJP parties and provide a common platform against the BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Sonia Gandhi is also expected to join the meeting this time.