Withdraw Delhi Ordinance Or It Will Be Defeated In Parliament, KCR Tells Centre

HYDERABAD: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Saturday warned that the country was being led up a path that resembles the one it was taken on during the pre-Emergency days, and that democratically elected state governments were being throttled by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre.

Chandrashekar Rao, flanked by Delhi and Punjab Chief Ministers Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Singh Mann respectively was speaking with reporters at Pragati Bhavan. Kejriwal and Mann were in Hyderabad to meet Chandrashekar Rao and seek his support against a recent Central government ordinance that cast aside a Supreme Court order granting powers to appoint and transfer officials to the Delhi state government.

Chanrashekar Rao said the actions of the BJP government at the Centre are making “these days worse than those of the Emergency”. “These are black days, not allowing an elected popular government to function, and not honouring a Supreme Court judgment. The Centre's action is a threat to democratic systems and a challenge to democracy. The Government of India must come to its senses and withdraw the ordinance.”

Calling Modi a “maafi ka saudagar (peddler of apologies),” Rao said “the ordinance must be withdrawn immediately. Don’t make this an issue unnecessarily. Let the government (in Delhi) live and work. The Modi government insulted the people of Delhi, this I can say without an iota of doubt. They will teach a lesson to the BJP government.”

He further said even after the drubbing it received in Karnataka, “the BJP has not learnt its lessons. The BJP’s farzi (fake) salaams and its bending backwards to appease voters failed there. At least now it should learn its lesson.”

Kejriwal, thanking Chandrashekar Rao for his support to the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi, said the issue is not about Kejriwal but about anti-democratic and anti-Constitutional decisions of the Central government. He said that when the BJP government brings in a Bill in the Parliament to replace the May 19 Ordinance, opposition parties, who are in a majority in the Rajya Sabha, can defeat it. “That will be the semi-final and will send a signal to all that in 2024, the BJP and Modi can be defeated,” he said.

“For eight years the people of Delhi were handicapped and when on May 11 the SC Constitutional Bench gave a 5-0 verdict in Delhi government’s favour on powers to appoint and transfer officials, the Centre on May 19 issued an ordinance that made the SC order infructuous,” he explained.

“If a government does not follow SC orders, where can people go to seek justice?” Kejriwal asked. “The PM is saying I will not recognize the Supreme Court and telling people that irrespective of who you elect, I will not let them work. This is not an insult to just people of Delhi but concerns the entire country. Non-BJP governments are not being allowed to work and are being targeted, MLAs are being bought over or parties are being broken, and ED and CBI are being used to threaten them.”

The Punjab Chief Minister said not following the Supreme Court orders sends a wrong signal.