The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has announced that it will support the Aam Aadmi Party in opposing the Centre’s ordinance on administrative services in Delhi. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren met in Ranchi to discuss the issue. Kejriwal said that the ordinance must be defeated collectively in Parliament, where it is likely to become a law in the upcoming session. Soren said that the Centre’s attack on democracy is a serious concern.
Both leaders arrived in Ranchi by a special flight from Chennai on Thursday, accompanied by AAP MPs Raghav Chadha and Sanjay Singh, as well as AAP MLA Atishi. Kejriwal stressed that despite the Supreme Court’s verdict in favour of the AAP government, the Centre brought the ordinance. He described the movement against the ordinance as a fight for independence, and said that it is undemocratic, against the federal structure, and unconstitutional. Kejriwal added that they will not allow the Central government to suppress democratic rights of people.
On Thursday, Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Singh Mann also met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin who accused the Centre of creating a crisis in non-BJP ruled states. Kejriwal has been reaching out to leaders of non-BJP parties to gather support against the ordinance so that the Centre’s bid to replace it through a bill is defeated when it is brought in Parliament.
Several other leaders have extended their support to the AAP, including Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Uddhav Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejaswi Yadav have also supported Kejriwal in the matter.
On May 19, the Centre promulgated an ordinance to create an authority for the transfer and posting of Group-A officers in Delhi, which the AAP government had called a deception with the Supreme Court verdict on control of services.
