Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav has assured Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that all SP members are with AAP and will oppose the ordinance brought by the Central Government in the Rajya Sabha.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and couple of Delhi ministers, reached Lucknow on Wednesday afternoon to garner support against the ordinance brought by the BJP government at the Centre, to met SP President Akhilesh Yadav.
After the meeting, both the leaders interacted with the media persons where SP President Akhilesh Yadav said that the Central government’s ordinance is against democracy.
“The BJP government is scared to see the work done by the Kejriwal government in the field of education and health. That’s why this ordinance has been brought. We support the Kejriwal government and will vote against the ordinance in the Rajya Sabha. All our members are with Aam Aadmi Party,” he assured Kejriwal.
Addressing the media, Kejriwal said that a five-judge bench in the Supreme Court has given a verdict in their favour under which only the elected government will have administrative powers, but the Modi government took away the powers of the Delhi government by bringing an ordinance.
“We have sought support from Akhilesh Yadav that if the ordinance imposed by the BJP government in the Rajya Sabha falls, a strong message will go for 2024 Lok Sabfa polls,” he said.
Arvind Kejriwal is meeting leaders of non-BJP parties and seeking their support to oppose the proposed Bill in the Parliament.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who was present on the occasion, said that the way the central government is working is against the federal structure of the country.
“Raj Bhavan has turned into the headquarters of the BJP. Where there are non-BJP governments, they are being harassed through the Governor. The same thing is happening in Punjab. It is against democracy,” he alleged.
Akhilesh Yadav had already raised objections and had called the ordinance an insult to the judiciary through tweet.
In fact, the number of members of non-BJP parties is more in the Rajya Sabha. The BJP has 93 members in the Rajya Sabha, while the number of its allies is 12. Thus the total strength of the ruling party is 105. While the total number of members of the opposition is 133. That’s why Kejriwal is trying that if all the opposition parties are brought together, then the bill brought by the center can be rejected in the Rajya Sabha.
Since May 23, Kejriwal has been touring the country meeting opposition leaders to garner support against the central government’s ordinance.
Kejriwal has so far met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, NCP President Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren to seek their support.