The AAP sought the support of all non-BJP parties on Monday in the Rajya Sabha to defeat a bill aimed at replacing the Centre’s Ordinance on Delhi’s Services matter. The party emphasized that this is a crucial moment for the Opposition parties, referring to it as a “time for agni pariksha,” and urged them to unite in order to safeguard the country’s democracy and Constitution.
The AAP is locked in bitter tussle with the BJP-led Centre since the Union government promulgated an Ordinance on Friday to create a National Capital Civil Service Authority which will handle the transfer of IAS and DANICS cadre officers and also matters of disciplinary proceedings against them. The Ordinance essentially overturned a Supreme Court order last week which gave the control of services, excluding those related to police, public order and land, to the elected government in Delhi.
“All opposition parties should come together against the Ordinance. This is time for agni pariksha (trial by fire). There is Emergency in the country. There is no democracy left in the country,” AAP Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesperson Sanjay Singh said.
The AAP’s appeal to the opposition parties comes ahead of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plan to reach out to each of them to seek their support, starting with his West Bengal counterpart and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata on Tuesday.