A day after he ensured the backing of West Bengal chief minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee in his bid to defeat the Centre's ordinance on the control of administrative services, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has arrived in Maharashtra to meet Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray.
The AAP chief is also scheduled to meet NCP leader Sharad Pawar on Thursday.
Though the Kejriwal-Thackeray meeting was earlier scheduled for 4 pm, reports say it has been postponed to 12:30 pm on Wednesday. Kejriwal will also be accompanued by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, AAP MPs Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chaddha and AAP Minister Atishi.
Kejriwal's attempt to garner the support of all major opposition parties comes as the Union Government on May 19 brought an ordinance to notify rules for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) regarding the 'transfer posting, vigilance and other incidental matters'.
The AAP hopes to defeat the bill at Rajya Sabha, as it terms the ordinance "unconstitutional" and an insult to the apex court. Kejriwal said if the bill is defeated in Rajya Sabha, it will send out the message that the BJP will lose the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
On Tuesday, Kejriwal visited Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal seeking her support. Banerjee assured Kejriwal that her party would support him in his fight against the central ordinance to control appointments and transfer of bureaucrats in Delhi.
"We support AAP in the fight against the Central ordinance,” Banerjee said after a nearly hour-long meeting. She said that a forthcoming vote in Rajya Sabha on the bill to convert the central ordinance into law will be a semi-final before the 2024 elections. The Trinamool Congress leader also took a sarcastic jibe at the Narendra Modi government, saying "The double engine (BJP rule in both state and centre) has become a troubled engine."
