Oppn meet: Kejriwal raises ordinance row, Cong says gathered for national issues (Lead)

Patna, June 23 (IANS) At the mega opposition unity meeting in Patna on Friday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed that the Congress is the not supporting the ordinance brought by the Centre for control of services, even as Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge made it clear that the meeting was called to discuss national issues with focus on next year's general election.

Sources told IANS that Kejriwal raised the issue of Congress not making its stand clear on the Centre's ordinance over control of services and having a secret pact with BJP over issue and would stage a walkout during the voting in the Rajya Sabha.

A source said that after listening to Kejriwal's argument, Kharge said that when the ordinance issue will come up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha, it will be discussed by the opposition parties just like every Bill is discussed.

The source said that Kharge also told Kejriwal, "Today the issue is not about states, but about national politics and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. So we will focus on that."

Kharge said that when the time comes, Congress will clear its stand on the ordinance, the source said.

Senior Congress leader K. C. Venugopal lost his cool and said that such allegations are not tolerable. "Congress cannot have any agreement with BJP at any cost," Venugopal said.

Sources said that situation reached such a stage that Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackerey had to intervened to calm down both the sides.

"You should learn from us and the Shiv Sena. We were fighting for the last 25 years but when adverse situation came we joined hands and worked together," sources quoted Sharad Pawar as saying.

Sources also revealed that National Conference leader Omar Abdullah reminded Kejriwal how it supported the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.

During their argument, Omar Abdullah asked asked Arvind Kejriwal to introspect. "What had Aam Aadmi Party done when Article 370 was removed? Why did you support it? Why AAP did not stand with the opposition parties? Today when you are in an adverse situation you want all the opposition parties to stand behind you," sources quoted Omar telling Kejriwal.

Sources said that following the arguments AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Maan, Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chaddha came out of the meeting soon after it ended and directly reached Patna airport, took the chartered plane and flew back to Delhi.

Later, AAP issued a statement saying that Congress' hesitation and refusal to act as a team player on an important issue will make it very difficult for AAP to be a part of any alliance that includes the grand-old party.

The AAP also said that until the Congress publicly denounces the 'black' ordinance and declares that all 31 of its Rajya Sabha MPs will oppose it, it will be difficult for AAP to participate in future meetings of like-minded parties where the Congress is a participant.

It added that the ordinance not only aims to snatch the democratic rights of an elected government in Delhi, but also poses a significant threat to India's democracy and Constitutional principles.