Flip Flop: Congress opposes Centre’s Delhi ordinance, AAP agrees to attend Opposition meet; now Khera says ‘no link’

After a quid pro quo with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for Opposition’s Bengaluru meet, the Congress on Monday tried to delink its stand on the Centre’s ordinance on control of services in Delhi from the Opposition’s unity meet in Bengaluru.

Congress leader Pawan Khera Monday said it was “wrong” to link the Opposition unity meet with his party’s stand on the ordinance.

“Opposing Delhi ordinance has nothing to do with Opposition Meeting. Congress has always stood up to protect the constitutional structure and we have always raised our voice against the misuse of Governors and Lieutenant governors by BJP government,” Khera said.

“So linking this with Opposition Meeting will be wrong,” Khera added.

#WATCH | "Opposing Delhi ordinance has nothing to do with #OppositionMeeting. Congress has always stood up to protect the constitutional structure and we have always raised our voices against the misuse of Governors and deputy governors by BJP govt. So linking this with… pic.twitter.com/1QoEpWdST3

— ANI (@ANI) July 17, 2023

How AAP came around to attending Opposition unity meet

The AAP decided to attend a meeting of Opposition parties in Bengaluru to chalk out a joint strategy to take on the BJP unitedly in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, party leader Raghav Chadha announced on Sunday.

The announcement came as Congress said it would not support the Centre’s ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi and will oppose any such attempt of the central government to “sabotage federalism” in the country.

After a meeting of the AAP’s highest decision making body — political affairs committee (PAC) — at party national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence in New Delhi, Chadha also welcomed the Congress’ decision to oppose in Parliament the Centre’s ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi.

The AAP had earlier said it would join the meeting in Bengaluru only if the Congress extended its support to the AAP in opposing the Delhi ordinance in Parliament.

After the PAC deliberations, Chadha announced that the AAP under the leadership of Kejriwal will participate in the opposition meeting in Bengaluru, beginning with a dinner on Monday.

Earlier, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said the party’s stand is clear as it will oppose any such move by the Centre to intervene in states ruled by opposition parties through the governors and has decided to oppose the Delhi ordinance in Parliament whenever a bill comes up.