After attending the first opposition meeting in Patna, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday once again targeted the Congress saying that its hesitation and refusal to act as a team player on an important issue - the ordinance that negates the Delhi government's control over services - would make it very difficult for them to be a part of any alliance that includes Congress.
In a statement, the AAP said: "Congress' hesitation and refusal to act as a team player, especially on an issue as important as this one, will make it very difficult for the AAP to be a part of any alliance that includes Congress.
"Until the Congress publicly denounces the Black Ordinance and declares that all 31 of its RS MPs will oppose the ordinance in the Rajya Sabha, it will be difficult for AAP to participate in future meetings of like-minded parties where the Congress is a participant."
The statement added that the 'black 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.
The AAP also highlighted that the Congress takes a stand on almost all issues but is yet to make its position on the "black ordinance" public.
"However, the Congress' Delhi and Punjab units have announced that the party should support the Modi government on this issue," it said.
The AAP claimed that during the Opposition meeting on Friday, many parties urged the Congress to publicly denounce the ordinance, but it refused to do so, and that the Congress' silence raises suspicions about its real intentions.
"In personal discussions, senior Congress leaders have hinted that their party might informally or formally abstain from voting on it in the Rajya Sabha. The Congress' abstention from voting on this issue will help the BJP immensely in furthering its attack on Indian democracy," the AAP said.
It also said that the ordinance is "anti-constitutional, anti-federalism, and outright undemocratic".
"Furthermore, it seeks to reverse the Supreme Court's judgment on the issue and is an affront to the judiciary," it added.
It said that if left unchallenged, this "dangerous trend" could spread to all other states, resulting in the usurpation of power from democratically elected state governments and thus it is crucial to defeat this ordinance.
Hitting out at the Congress the AAP said that a total of 15 parties are attending the like-minded party meeting in Patna, out of which 12 have representation in the Rajya Sabha.
"Except for the Congress, all other 11 parties, which have representation in the Rajya Sabha, have clearly expressed their stand against the Black Ordinance and announced that they would oppose it in the Rajya Sabha," it said. It's high time that Congress decides whether it stands with the people of Delhi or the Modi government, it added.
Earlier in the day, before leaving for Patna, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge responding to a question about Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's AAP threatening to walkout of the opposition meeting if they don't get support of Congress over ordinance said: "I am not aware of this and he (Kejriwal) also knows that ordinance is not opposed outside. It is done in Parliament."
"When the Parliament session begins then several parties decides on the agenda on which issues they need to take up and what to leave. Even their party leaders attend the all party meeting in Parliament. I don't know why they are publicising this.
"Around 18 to 20 parties take decision on what to oppose and support in Parliament. And We will take a decision on this (on supporting AAP against the Centre's ordinance) before the Parliament session," the Congress President added.
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