NEW DELHI:  Ahead of the Opposition meeting slated to be held in Patna on June 23, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that hopefully all the parties in the meeting as the Congress party to clear its stand. He further said that he thinks that the first agenda of that meeting will be Centre’s ordinance that ends democracy in Delhi.

The mega opposition meeting will be held on June 23 in Patna with participation of galaxy of opposition leaders including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. Earlier this month, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had predicted that the Lok Sabha elections would be held earlier than planned, claiming that the ruling BJP is concerned about his attempts to unify the Opposition.
In a bid to put pressure on the Congress, Arvind Kejriwal  said he expects other parties to ask the grand old party to clear its stand on the Narendra Modi government’s ordinance that takes control of bureaucracy in the national capital at a meeting of joint Opposition in Patna later this week. Kejriwal told a press conference that he would explain to other party leaders why the ordinance is against the states’ interest and that it can be brought in even states. “I will take the Constitution with me and explain to them that the ordinance is not only for Delhi but can be brought in states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and West Bengal. Such an ordinance can be brought on subjects like education and electricity that are in the concurrent list,” he said.
“I hope the parties will ask the Congress to clear its stand on the issue. The ordinance will be the first issue that will be discussed at the meeting,” Kejriwal said, as Congress is yet to announce its support to AAP on the issue. The AAP chief has so far met top leaders of at least 10 parties, including Trinamool Congress, JD(U), RJD, NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT), seeking their support to defeat a bill to replace the ordinance when it comes in Rajya Sabha.  Kejriwal has sought appointment with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former chief Rahul Gandhi but no meeting has taken place, Congress units in Delhi and Punjab are up in arms against any support for AAP.
Opposition sources have said that the meeting in Patna would not be “confrontationist”. DH on Monday reported that the meeting is unlikely to see contentious issues like the Delhi ordinance marring the bonhomie among parties. “What I said was in jest, but the possibility cannot be ruled out. The current dispensation may feel that if our opposition unity bid gathered momentum, it would inflict on them bigger losses. So they could take recourse to early polls,” the Bihar Chief Minister stated. Top leaders from various parties are scheduled to attend the upcoming meeting, including Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Sharad Pawar, MK Stalin, Uddhav Thackeray, Akhilesh Yadav, Farooq Abdullah, and Mehbooba Mufti.

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