Will Walk Out Of Opposition Meet, If...: AAP's Ultimatum To Congress Over Centre's Ordinance

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has threatened to skip tomorrow's Opposition meet in Patna if Congress doesn't join the protest against Centre's ordinance.

The meeting of opposition parties has been called by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to chalk out a joint strategy to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"If Congress won't assure support against Centre's ordinance in the Patna opposition meet, then Aam Aadmi Party to walk out of the meeting," news agency ANI reported quoting sources.

On Wednesday, Kejriwal has written to opposition parties asking them to take up the Delhi ordinance issue first on the agenda at the joint meeting in Patna this Friday.

Kejriwal stressed the first thing to be discussed in the meeting should revolve around defeating the bill related to the Centre's ordinance in the Rajya Sabha.

"The Centre has carried out an experiment in Delhi by bringing this ordinance. If it is successful, it will bring similar ordinances in non-BJP states and snatch away the powers of states with respect to subjects in the concurrent list," he said in the letter dated June 20.

Kejriwal also said that the "day is not far when the prime minister will run 33 states through lieutenant governors and governors".

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

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Maharashtra's former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP president Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin are among the leaders expected to attend the first high-level opposition meeting.

Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party will be the only party from Uttar Pradesh attending the opposition leaders' meeting in Patna on Friday, with Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati not being invited while the Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary will skip the meet due to a family programme.