Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin on Thursday offered his “support” to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) against the Centre’s ordinance giving control of ‘services’ back to the Delhi lieutenant governor.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann met the Tamil Nadu chief minister in Chennai to seek DMK’s support against the Centre’s ordinance.
Kejriwal and Mann called on Stalin at his residence in Alwarpet in Chennai. AAP MP Raghav Chadha and DMK parliamentary party leader and former Union Minister TR Baalu were also present during the meeting.
CM Stalin assured the AAP leaders that his party would vote against the ordinance in the Rajya Sabha and work towards its defeat, the Delhi Chief Minister said.
Appreciating the support extended by Stalin, Kejriwal informed that the DMK has assured its solidarity with the people of Delhi and the elected government.
“DMK MPs will vote against the bill and help us defeat it. I also appeal to all other parties to unite for this cause. Over the last few weeks, we have been going across the country, meeting with different parties and we have got a very favourable response from all over. With every passing day I am feeling confident that we will be able to defeat the bill. This will be like a semi-final to the 2024 elections. If this bill is defeated in the Rajya Sabha, a very strong message will go out in the country that the entire opposition has united and the Modi Government is not going to come back,” the Delhi Chief Minister said.
Kejriwal is on a nationwide tour to enlist support from the opposition parties against the new ordinance.
The AAP convenor is scheduled to meet Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on June 2.