Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (centre) waves as he stands alongside his ministers during a public cabinet meeting in Connaught Place on May 25. (Agence France-Presse)
In his turf war with the Centre, Arvind Kejriwal hopes to enlist the support of other chief ministers and even the Congress to corner the Narendra Modi government in Parliament during the Monsoon Session, sources in his Aam Aadmi Party said.
The sources said Mr Kejriwal is in talks with several non-BJP chief ministers and, they claimed, regional power houses like Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, Nitish Kumar in Bihar and Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh, have pledged the support of their members of Parliament in raising what the AAP chief calls "an attack on the federal structure."
The Delhi chief minister has alleged that his mega tussle over the appointment of top bureaucrats with the Lieutenant Governor, who represents the Centre in Delhi, displays the Modi government's disregard for the federal structure.
He warned in the Delhi Assembly yesterday that the BJP is conducting "an experiment in Delhi, which will be replicated in other states as well."
While there is no confirmation yet from the chief ministers or their parties on supporting AAP, Ms Banerjee had tweeted a few days ago, "Too much interference in the federal structure is unacceptable. The state government is an elected body." Mr Kejriwal had retweeted Ms Banerjee's tweets amid reports that they talked on telephone.
Nitish Kumar has in the past supported Mr Kejriwal in his pitched battles with common rival, the BJP. In March he met Mr Kejriwal to congratulate him on his spectacular victory in Delhi, where AAP won 67 of 70 seats, leaving the BJP to mop up the remaining three.
AAP sources said they also hope to win support from the Congress, whose Rahul Gandhi is in attack mode against the Modi government.
Though the Congress has criticised both AAP and the BJP for creating "a constitutional crisis in Delhi," its Delhi unit has sided with Mr Kejriwal in his battle with Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, whose stand that he alone can decide on the postings of officials has been endorsed by the Centre.
Mr Kejriwal alleges that the BJP, after losing the elections, wants to govern Delhi by proxy through the Lieutenant Governor.