Congress's Catch-22 As Other Parties Back AAP In Fight vs Centre

While the Congress is yet to clarify its position on whether to support Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in its fight against the Centre's ordinance on Delhi services, several non-BJP parties have come out in AAP's support.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, has received support from various parties in the last few days, after his meetings with the leaders of CPI(M), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Janata Dal (United), Trinamool Congress, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, Shiv Sena (UT) and others.

He will also meet with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren.

Mr Kejriwal has kept a busy schedule over the past two weeks, meeting with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, and CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury to seek their help to defeat the Centre's Bill in Parliament, specifically in Rajya Sabha.

The Bill, which requires a constitutional amendment, will replace the ordinance brought by the Centre to override the Supreme Court order that gave the Delhi Government control over postings and transfers of bureaucrats in the capital.

The support of the Congress will be crucial to defeat the Bill in the Rajya Sabha.

For the Congress, it is a tough call. The Congress and AAP have been in conflict for years; Congress accuses AAP of eroding its voter base, pushing soft Hindutva, and spreading misinformation on the Congress, while AAP has challenged Congress in states like Gujarat, Punjab and Delhi. The Punjab and Delhi units of the Congress have specifically urged the party leadership to not support AAP and harm the Congress's interests.

The ordinance row has managed to capture the attention of non-BJP parties just when the Congress, fresh after its massive victory in Karnataka, was hoping to emerge as the pivot in the opposition ecosystem.

In the upcoming elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, it is the Congress that will be in a direct fight with the BJP, and a section of the party feels it should maintain its dominant position in the opposition and not give in to regional players. While regional parties have backed Mr Kejriwal, it is clear that their support is driven by a desire to diminish the Congress's growing prominence and secure a better bargaining position in the 2024 national elections.

Sources told NDTV that the Congress will soon make its position clear, basing it on protection of constitutional values, and making it clear that it is opposed to the BJP but not in full support of AAP.

The strongest support for AAP came from the CPI(M) on Tuesday, in the latest editorial of the party's weekly People's Democracy. The party has asked the Congress to "stop dithering" and says it is not just a question of AAP-Congress relations, that it is the fight against an assault on "democracy and federalism." It also said opposition unity for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections depends on the Congress's stand on Delhi ordinance.

CPI(M)'s Sitaram Yechury told NDTV that he has appealed to the Congress and other opposition parties to support AAP because the Centre's ordinance on administrative services in Delhi is a 'brazen violation' of the Constitution, which could impact other non-BJP governments. He said the BJP government has been attacking the pillars of the Constitution and its federal structure.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called on leaders of several opposition and regional parties over the past two months as part of his initiative to forge a united opposition. While the JD(U) is keen to see Nitish Kumar as convener of the grouping to take on the BJP in 2024, the party is also set to host a meeting of opposition parties in Patna on June 12.

The Congress, sources said, was keen on the meeting being held in Shimla, to enable Sonia Gandhi's presence, but Nitish Kumar has gone ahead with the Patna plan and has been inviting parties. In his meeting with Nitish Kumar, Mr Kejriwal specifically asked for help to get more parties to back AAP on the ordinance, and Mr Kumar is learnt to have agreed to speak to others.

After meeting Mr Yechury, Kejriwal requested the Congress once again to support his campaign and said while the party need not back him, his fight was about the people, democracy and the Constitution of India. He even said AAP would stand with the Congress if the Centre did something similar in Rajasthan. To mark his protest, Mr Kejriwal also skipped the NITI Aayog meeting urging the Centre to "let non-BJP governments work freely."

The Centre's controversial ordinance gives Delhi's Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) the final say on transfers and postings of bureaucrats instead of the elected government. The Centre brought in the ordinance on May 19 overturning a Supreme Court Constitution Bench ruling, which upheld the authority of Delhi government over the services.

Sources in the central government told NDTV they took into account multiple global case studies, the nation's security and the pivotal position that Delhi holds to drive home investments, apart from looking into complaints by bureaucrats working in Delhi who were often caught in the AAP versus Lieutenant Governor tussle.