Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal will meet Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar regarding the ordinance of the Center

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will meet Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai this week to seek their support against the Centre’s ordinance on transfer of bureaucrats in the national capital.

According to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Kejriwal will meet Thackeray on May 24 and Pawar on May 25. Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar held a meeting with his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal in the national capital on Sunday and extended his support to the AAP chief against promulgation of an ordinance to give back control of ‘services’ to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav was also present on this occasion.

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This comes after the central government on Friday promulgated an ordinance to notify rules for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) with regard to ‘transfer postings, vigilance and other relevant matters’.

The ordinance was brought to amend the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 and override the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Center Vs Delhi case.

Earlier on Saturday, AAP’s national convenor termed the move as “undemocratic and illegal”, alleging that it “attacks the basic structure of the Constitution”. He also accused the Center of deliberately waiting for the court to close till 4 pm to challenge the apex court verdict and pass the ordinance.

Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said, “To run the government efficiently, it is very important that the officers come under the control of the elected government as also mentioned by the court. Supreme Court to close at 4 pm on Friday.” happened, and they (Bharatiya Janata Party) brought the ordinance at 10 pm the same day.”

He said, “It seems to be a disgusting joke against the democracy, the people of the country and the two crore people of Delhi.”

The Chief Minister alleged that as soon as the verdict came, the Center decided to bring an ordinance to circumvent the judgement. See the sequence. After the order was passed, the Services Secretary went out of touch and switched off his mobile as well. The Chief Secretary could not be contacted after he returned. Due to this, the meeting of the Civil Services Board was delayed. Three days and when we finally send the proposal to the LG, he sits on it for two days,” he said.

Kejriwal said, “They were deliberately waiting for the leave of the court to bring the ordinance. If they just wanted to bring the ordinance, they could have brought it earlier also. But they wanted the court to be closed, because they know that The ordinance is undemocratic, illegal and against the Constitution. They knew that if we challenge the ordinance in court, it will not last even five minutes. When the court opens on July 1, we will challenge it.”

The Ordinance has for the first time created a National Capital Civil Services Authority (NCCSA) which will have the power to recommend transfer and posting of all Group A officers and officials of DANICS serving in Delhi. The NCCSA will be headed by the Chief Minister of Delhi, with the Chief Secretary of Delhi and the Principal Home Secretary as the other two members.

The ordinance designates the Lieutenant Governor (LG) as the administrator of Delhi, who will have the final say on postings and transfers of all bureaucrats serving in the Delhi government.