Samajwadi Party extends supports to AAP over Central ordinance, becomes 8th party to do so

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on 7 June extended his party's support to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal against the Centre's ordinance on control of services in the national capital.

With this, SP has become the eighth party to support Arvind Kejriwal. Earlier, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin have also supported Kejriwal in the matter.

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, after a meeting, Akhilesh Yadav said, "The ordinance is anti-democratic. I want to assure CM Arvind Kejriwal that Samajwadi Party is with you and will support you."

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Kejriwal was also accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann at the meeting.

"We had discussion with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav...we thank him as he has assured his party's support when the ordinance comes in the Rajya Sabha," Kejriwal said.

The Delhi CM even stressed that if the ordinance gets defeated in the Rajya Sabha, it will send a "strong message" before the 2024 parliamentary elections.

"If all the anti-BJP parties unite and get the ordinance defeated in the Rajya Sabha, where the BJP is not in majority, it will be a semifinal of the next year's elections and send a strong message to the country," Kejriwal said.

Meanwhile, AAP has been reaching out to leaders of non-BJP parties to garner their support against the ordinance, to defeat the Bill when it is brought in Parliament.

Earlier on May 19, the Centre promulgated the ordinance to create an authority for the transfer and posting of Group-A officers in Delhi. The AAP-led government had called a deception with the Supreme Court verdict on control of services.

It is to be known that the ordinance came a week after the Supreme Court handed over the control of services in Delhi, excluding police, public order, and land, to the elected government.

According to the ordinance, it seeks to set up a National Capital Civil Service Authority for the transfer of and disciplinary proceedings against Group-A officers from the DANICS cadre.

Transfer and postings of all officers of the Delhi government were under the executive control of the lieutenant governor before the top court's 11 May verdict.

With agency inputs.