Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal To Meet Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar Over Center`s Ordinance

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal also met his Bihar counterpart while the state`s Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav was also present during the meeting.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will meet Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray this week in Mumbai to seek support against the Centre's ordinance on the transfer of bureaucrats in the national capital.

Kejriwal will meet Thackeray on May 24 and Pawar on May 25, according to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday held a meeting with his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal in the national capital and extended his support to the AAP chief against the Centre bringing an ordinance to give the control of 'services' back to Delhi Lieutenant Governor. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav was also present at the occasion.

Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar has been meeting Opposition leaders to strengthen the bloc against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

This comes after the Union Government on Friday 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 was brought to amend the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 and it circumvents the Supreme Court judgement in the Centre vs Delhi case.

Earlier on Saturday, AAP national convenor called the move "undemocratic and illegal" alleging that it "attacks the basic structure of the Constitution". He also accused the Centre of "challenging the apex court" ruling and purposefully waiting for the court to close till 4 pm for passing the ordinance.

Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said, "For a government to run efficiently, it is very important the officers come under the control of the elected government as the court also noted. On Friday, the SC closed at 4 pm, and they (Bharatiya Janata Party) brought the ordinance at 10 pm on the same day".

"It seems as a disgusting joke against the democracy, people of the country as well as the 2 crore people of Delhi," he added.

The Chief Minister alleged that as soon as the judgement was passed, the Centre had decided to bring an ordinance to circumvent the ruling. "If we look at the sequence. After the order was passed, the services secretary became unreachable and even switched off his mobile. After he came back, Chief Secretary got unreachable. Due to this, the meeting of the Civil Services Board got delayed by three days. And when we finally send the proposal to the LG, he sits over it for further two days," he said.

Kejriwal added, "They were purposefully waiting for the court's holiday to start for bringing the ordinance. If they just wanted to bring the ordinance they could have brought it before as well. But they wanted the court to close, as they know that the ordinance is undemocratic, illegal and against the Constitution. They knew that if we challenge the ordinance in court, it won't stand even five minutes. When the court opens on July 1, we will challenge it".

The ordinance has created for the first time a National Capital Civil Service Authority (NCCSA) that will have the power to recommend the transfer and posting of all Group A officers and officers of DANICS serving in Delhi. NCCSA will be headed by the Chief Minister of Delhi, with the Chief Secretary and Principal Home Secretary of Delhi being the other two members.

The ordinance designates the Lieutenant Governor (LG) as the administrator of Delhi who will have the final say on the postings and transfer of all bureaucrats serving the Delhi government.