No state immune: CM; hopes Cong clears ordinance stand

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said he will raise during a June 23 meeting of Opposition parties the issue of a central ordinance that gave control of the city’s bureaucracy to the lieutenant governor (LG), and discuss how the Union government may “replicate” it in other states to strip them of their autonomy

- Alok KN Mishra

NEW DELHI: Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Kejriwal added that he hopes the Congress is asked to clear its stand on the ordinance during the meeting, convened by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in Patna.

Opposition parties are expected to explore at the meeting the possibility of a common ground to put up a united fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 general elections.

“I will explain to leaders of other parties that the Centre has promulgated the ordinance in Delhi not just because it is a semi-state. I will tell them it can be brought in any state...Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Punjab,” Kejriwal said. “Through the ordinance, the Centre can take away any state government’s autonomy to legislate on a topic mentioned in the concurrent list,” he added.