In Parl, Cong may corner Centre for 'assault' on elected state govts

The Congress will continue to oppose the central government's "assault on constitutional rights and responsibilities of democratically elected state governments", the party said on Saturday, in what is seen as a signal to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal ahead of an opposition meeting in Bengaluru.

- Saubhadra Chatterji

In the previous meeting of opposition parties in Patna last month, Kejriwal had demanded that the Congress state its opposition to the Delhi ordinance that vests the power of "administration of services" with the lieutenant governor appointed by the central government. The Aam Aadmi Party had then issued a statement saying it would be difficult for it to attend the next meeting where the Congress is a participant.

"The Congress has always fought against the Modi government's assault on the constitutional rights and responsibilities of democratically elected state governments and local bodies. This assault comes directly or comes from appointees like the governors," party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said after a meeting of the Congress parliamentary strategy group.

"The Congress party has opposed it in the past. We will continue to oppose it in Parliament and outside, Ramesh said. "This is a brazen assault on the Constitution and it takes various forms.

Constitutional bodies are weakened and their recommendations are ignored while constitutional agencies are misused." The Congress said the AAP will attend the Bengaluru meeting of opposition parties. HT reached out to the AAP, but did not get an official response till the time of print.