Shot in the arm for AAP after Mamata Banerjee’s meeting with Kejriwal, Mann over Centre’s ordinance

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said the Trinamool Congress will oppose the ordinance brought by the Centre against the Delhi government and urge opposition parties to come together.

Banerjee was addressing a joint press conference with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann after their meeting in Kolkata.

“This government has become a government ‘of the agency, by the agency and for the agency’. We fear the Central government might change the Constitution, it might change the name of the country… They don’t even respect the Supreme Court verdicts,” Banerjee said.

The meeting was part of a nationwide tour to garner support for Kejriwal’s fight against the Centre’s ordinance on control of services in Delhi.

Kejriwal and Mann were accompanied by Aam Aadmi Party leaders Raghav Chadha and Atishi Singh. The off-camera meeting is expected to last several hours.

The meeting between the leaders reportedly focused on the central ordinance setting up a National Capital Civil Service Authority which essentially overturns a Supreme Court order last week giving control of services, excluding those related to police, public order and land, to the elected government in Delhi.

Before starting on the journey for Kolkata, Kejriwal had tweeted, “Today, I am starting my journey around the country for the rights of the people of Delhi. The Supreme Court had passed a judgement giving justice to the people of Delhi. The Centre snatched away those rights by bringing the ordinance.”

“When this comes in the Rajya Sabha, it has to be ensured that it not passed. I will meet the leaders of all political parties and ask for support,” he added.

The National Capital Civil Service Authority will handle the transfer of IAS and DANICS cadre officers and also matters of disciplinary proceedings against them.

The AAP has already sought the support of all non-BJP parties saying this is a “time for agni pariksha” for opposition parties, and that they should come together if they want to save the country’s democracy and Constitution.